Love Letters from the Edge
by scriviner
Summary: AU of Ranma where a single change results in a mass cascade of strangeness for everyone in the cast. Nabiki Tendo, the martial artist. Tatewaki Kuno, the shy poet. Akane Tendo, the manipulative schemer. Repost of a very old fic of mine from the 90's.


**Love Letters from the Edge A Ranma 1/2 Elseworlds by the Scriviner**

_Foreword:  
What actually set off this story was an episode of Kinyo Chui Ho Wapiko-chan, I saw a couple of months back, where one of the characters hit her head and had a long elaborate dream sequence where everyone was acting the opposite of how they normally acted. I figured it was a great idea for a fic... but then I figured, it'd be more intriguing to see if I could make a single change which would result in a cascade of events which would lead to the resulting opposite personalities/behavior in people. In any case, rights belong to Rumiko Takahashi, and I wouldn't dream of trying to steal em. C&C always welcomed. And now... on with the story._

Chapter 1: Home is where.  
Somewhere in the Nerima district of Tokyo was a rather unremarkable structure known as the Tendo Dojo. The sign next to the entrance suggested that if one wished to challenge the dojo owner to savage martial combat, they may use the rear entrance. But it was more than merely a dojo. For next to it was the Tendo household... and currently sitting at the porch, facing the koi pond was the dojo's owner and master, patriarch of the Tendo family, Soun Tendo.  
Soun Tendo was a rather severe looking man in an old brown gi. His hair was long and he had a neatly trimmed moustache. He was nearing middle age, but still lean and trim, the result of his martial arts training. At the moment, he was rereading a postcard, for what must have been the twentieth time. Tears were rolling down his cheeks... he was so happy. He tended to do whenever he was overcome by emotion. Which was actually most of the time. But this was particularly intense... he was crying so much that the wooden floor under him was warping.  
The post card seemed unremarkable enough. On the back, it had a cute picture of a panda and it was postmarked as having come from China. The words written on it were equally unremarkable, but filled with meaning for Soun. "Coming home. We love you and miss you all."  
It was signed, "Ranma and Akane"  
Unable to contain himself Soun leapt to his feet and called out, "Kasumi! Nabiki!" calling his other daughters together... he had to share this news with them.  
He was smiling happily even as the tears streaked down his face... to think that such momentous news would arrive today of all days... it was almost too good to be true.

Two men, boys actually, about sixteen years old slogged through the sudden downpour. They were walking down one of the busier streets of Nerima and people were everywhere. People who had the foresight to bring umbrellas one of them noted, muttering darkly.  
They looked remarkably alike... same muscular build, same unruly crop of black hair pulled into a pigtail, same handsome features... they were even wearing similar red silk Chinese shirts and the same type of loose black pants, even down to the similarity of the huge backpacks they were both bearing. Surprisingly enough, despite the pack's weight neither seemed to notice it much and they were both walking easily, in step.  
Truth be told, the only way to tell the two apart was the fact that one of them was wearing a pair of plastic hornrim glasses and had a certain air of crafty intelligence. The other wore no glasses and was gawking openly at their surroundings.  
"Things sure have changed around here, Akan- er- Akaru," the one who wasn't wearing glasses noted.  
Akaru adjusted his glasses, "Yeah, Ranma, sure does. There didn't use to be this many shops around here."  
"We'd better find you some hot water first, then," Ranma replied, glancing up at the sky, "I think the rain's stopped."  
"Yeah. I don't want to meet everyone looking like this," Akaru grinned slapping his chest a few times for emphasis.  
Ranma chuckled, "Especially not dad."  
"Nope definitely not," Akaru replied, also chuckling.

A limo waited in front of the well apointed Kuno estates, its driver, a short man in an outfit which could only be called a ninja uniform sat on top of several stacked pillows to help him see over the steering wheel.  
Next to the car, Kochou Kuno, a large bluff man waited impatiently for his wife and children to come out. He was easily middle aged, but still solidly built. His long curly black hair was tied back into a short topknot reminiscent of the ancient samurai. It was an affectation of his that his wife tolerated good naturedly. As well as his penchant for wearing kimonos all the time. It was only fitting after all, their family had come from a long and honorable samurai lineage. Nobility of his ancestors and himself aside though, right now, he was feeling quite put upon... none of his family seemed to quite understand just how important this meeting was. Of course, he hadn't told them what it was for, but that was unimportant. It simply would not do to have them arrive late.  
"Darling?! Tatchi? Kotchi? We're going to be late!" Kochou called out.  
"Daddy, no need to shout. We're right here. I am, anyway," his daughter said as she swept out of the door. Swept was an appropriate word to use, she was in a demure pastel blue dress with a long sweeping skirt. It practically begged the use of the word... sweep. In all it's various tenses. She was a sweetly beautiful young woman, no more than sixteen, with long black hair, tied off into an offcenter ponytail, "Tatchi is just finishing something up in his room. He said he'd be down..."  
Kochou harumphed loudly, "Probably jotting something down in that journal of his again."  
The girl hugged her father, "Now, now, Daddy... just because 'nisama doesn't like martial arts is no reason to take that tone..."  
"I know... I know... it's your mother's influence I tell you." Kochou said after a moment.  
The girl giggled, "Don't let Mama hear you say that."  
"Don't tell her I said it." Kochou grinned.  
"What was that about Mama?" A young man of seventeen asked as he stepped out of the house. He was handsome, with a slender build, even features that had a certain cast of nobility to them. He was in a formal suit, colored dark blue and tailored precisely. He wore a pair of wire rim glasses and had a bound journal under one arm.  
"Nothing at all, son," Kochou replied with a grin, "Don't tell me you're bringing that notebook along?" he asked playfully.  
The young man, smiled, "Father, you know perfectly well I would never go anywhere without it."  
"Well, it's a lot less stupid than that bokken you used to carry around in grade school," The girl smiled.  
The three shared a chuckle over that, "Well, mama told me it looked a trifle ridiculous... and she most certainly had a point." The young man said, slightly embarrassed.  
"Alright... is everyone here?" called a voice from within the door... "Yes we are, dear." Kochou called back, "Please hurry, we'll be late."  
"I'm sorry, I took so long, Darling." The woman said as she stepped out of the door. She was a strikingly beautiful woman in her late forties, but she looked hardly a day over thirty. She was also wearing a formal kimono and was smiling gently at her family. Her long curled hair was styled into a bun behind her.  
"It's alright, Darling," Kochou smiled. He could never be angry at her for very long. "I'm certain Sasuke can get us there in time, "Isn't that right, Sasuke?"  
The driver bowed formally, "I shall certainly endeavor to do so, Master Kuno."  
"Well, let's be on our way then..." the woman said gesturing her children into the car... it had been a while since she'd last seen Soun and he and Kochou apparently had some sort of arrangement they were planning. She smiled grimly, hoping that this wasn't another of her husband's mad schemes. Nodoka Kuno was certainly looking forward to finding out what her husband was up to this time.

The rain had stopped, finally. Just outside the gates of the Tendo Dojo stood a boy and a girl, both sixteen. The boy, Ranma glanced nervously at the wooden gates, "Well... we're here, Akane. At long last. We're home."  
The girl, a very cute brunette. Her black hair, braided to match Ranma's swept neatly away from her face. She was about three inches shorter than he was and a good deal more slender. She paused to adjust her glasses, trying to disguise the tears she was blinking back, it simply wouldn't do to show her brother she was being weak... it would not do. "Yeah..." she said quietly. "Let's go in?"  
"Yeah... we're not getting anywhere standing out here."  
"Yeah."  
They remained standing there for another minute.  
"Well are you opening the gates or not?" Akane asked impatiently.  
"Me? Why don't you open it?"  
"Cause you opened it when we left, stupid!" Akane shouted back.  
"ME?! Have you forgotten that we BOTH jumped over the wall?" Ranma shouted back.  
"Oh yeah?"  
"Yeah!"  
"Oh yeah?"  
"Yeah!"  
"Are you sure?"  
"Uh-huh... pretty sure."  
"I remember you opening the gate..."  
"Nah, it was over the wall..."  
The gate slowly swung open as the two continued their rather simplistic argument.  
"Excuse me?" Said a new voice from the now opened gates.  
Both the boy and the girl turned to look at the beautiful woman who'd opened the door... she was dressed in a very simple pale white blouse and a long peach skirt. There was something very familiar about her face... the soft smile, the long, soft brown hair, the maternal light in her eyes.  
Both Akane and Ranma cried out simultaneously, "Kasumi!" as they barreled past the half opened gate both of them hugging her tearfully. The woman, Kasumi, smiled happily, returning their hugs warmly.  
"I've missed you both so much!" Kasumi said sweetly to both of them, still holding them in her arms. "How you've both grown!"  
"We missed you too, sis!" Akane cried. Ranma just hugged silently.  
"Kiai!" another voice screamed as someone else leapt on the three.  
Ranma and Akane both immediately whirled into defensive stances, covering one another's flank, keeping Kasumi behind and between them.  
Kasumi gave an amused, though exasperated sigh at the newcomer, "Nabiki, stop joking."  
The fourth person was a pretty brunette no more than seventeen years old. Her hair cut almost brutally short, favored them with a feral grin. Her slender body was toned underneath her gi as she stood in a ready stance. "You two haven't been slacking off I see," she said.  
"Nabiki?!" Akane sputtered.  
Ranma just stared.  
"It's so good to see you both!" Nabiki shouted jumping into Ranma's surprised arms and grabbing Akane along the way, also hugging her.  
Akane laughed and hugged her older sister back, "What happened to you?!"  
Nabiki grinned, more playfully this time, as she ruffled Akane's hair, "Well, somebody had to train to inherit the dojo when you two left, and Kasumi-nesama doesn't like violence... so guess who daddy's been training?"  
"Say... where is dad?" Ranma asked glancing around.  
Kasumi glanced towards the house worriedly and tapped both Ranma and Akane on the shoulder, "He's there..."  
Ranma and Akane's joy was suddenly cooled. At the door to the Tendo household proper stood the patriarch of the Tendo clan. Soun gazed at them coldly. His face stern and unforgiving. His eyes hard and staring directly at his prodigal children. Even Nabiki and Kasumi flinched under their father's harsh stare. They knew how much he had been hurt by Ranma and Akane's departure those many years ago.  
Long moments passed and no one moved.  
"So you've returned." Soun said finally. His voice cold and distant.  
Ranma and Akane moved away from their sisters, moving towards Soun. As they neared him they dropped to their knees, heads bowed low. Ranma's muffled and humble voice replied to Soun, "Yes, sir."  
"And how went your quest?" Soun asked in the same tone.  
"It was a futile one, sir." Ranma replied again.  
"So now are you content to be merely a Tendo now, Ranma?" Soun asked, his voice unchanging.  
"No, sir." Ranma's voice replied, "I would not be content."  
Soun's visage clouded over... his cold control slipping as his face began to twist into a mask of fury.  
"I would be honored... to be known as Ranma Tendo... if you would have me. Father." Ranma replied, still not raising his head.  
"I see." Soun managed to say finally, the tears already rolling slowly down his face, "I see... rise, Ranma Tendo... you too, Akane... it is good to see you both home."  
As the two youngest Tendos rose to their feet, Soun was unable to stop himself anymore and began to bawl lustily, "It's so good to have you two home! We've missed you so very much!!!!!"  
It took less than thirty seconds for the newly reunited Tendo family to get into a group hug. For the first time in six years... they were complete.

The family settled into a happy circle around the dinner table. Kasumi smiling sweetly as she served tea and cakes. Nabiki, Ranma and Akane shoveling the food in as though there were no tomorrow. Soun smiling proudly at his children.  
"So, how did you two survive?" Nabiki asked Ranma and Akane pointedly around a rice cracker.  
"Well..." Ranma started, glancing at Akane.  
"Well, mostly we got odd jobs here and there," Akane replied off handedly, "Sometimes we used our martial arts to win competitions and stuff..."  
"...then Akane would do her best to make the money stretch out when we didn't have any work. She's gotten really good at making money last." Ranma completed.  
Soun nodded sagely, "That's excellent, it's good to see you two have learned from your journey..."  
"Yeah, I guess we did learn quite a bit, it was like one long training journey." Ranma laughed.  
"Actually, it's quite fortunate that you arrived today, of all days..." Soun said.  
"Really? Why's that dad?" Akane asked as she pushed her glasses up her nose. It was a negligent gesture, but one which she did often when presented with an interesting tidbit of information.  
"I'm expecting some important guests... people who will help ensure the continued future of the anything goes school of martial arts..." Soun replied enthusiastically.  
Nabiki gave a small grimace, she knew that tone of voice... it was the same one he used on her whenever he made her learn a new technique. Whatever it was, she was certain it didn't bode well for her.  
"Soun! We're here!" a voice called out from the gate.  
"Oh my, we have visitors." Kasumi said, rushing to her feet to open the gate. Ranma and Akane looked at each other curiously, each wondering what was happening.  
When Kasumi returned, she was with Kochou, Nodoka, Tatewaki and Kodachi. She smiled at Soun, "Father, the Kuno family is here... I do wish you'd told me they were going to be our guests, I would've prepared something special." She chided him mildly.  
Kodachi caught sight of Ranma... Ranma caught a good look at Kodachi in return... their eyes met... sparks flew... their breaths caught in their throats... and Akane had to give Ranma a quick elbow to the stomach to remind him to breathe.  
Kochou rushed to Soun, "Ahh! My friend it is so good to see you again."  
"And you as well! I trust everything is alright?"  
"Of course, of course."  
As the respective patriarchs of the Kuno and Tendo clan exchanged greetings, slaps on the back and friendly banter, Nodoka smiled warmly at the Tendos.  
"Auntie Kuno!" Nabiki shouted merrily, bouncing to her feet.  
Nodoka hugged her warmly, "Nabiki, you're certainly growing up well..." she noticed Ranma and Akane at the table and blinked in surprise, "Akane-chan? Ran-chan? You've finally come home!"  
Akane and Ranma surged to their feet as well, embracing Nodoka, "You're both so grown up now!" she exclaimed.  
Kodachi moved to her mother's side, "Mom... is this Ran-chan?" she asked, not daring to believe it.  
Nodoka nodded. Ranma was blushing furiously as he looked at Kodachi, "Er... Ko-chan? Is that you?"  
She answered by throwing her arms around him, "I missed you, you idiot! Where have you been?!"  
Ranma blushed an even deeper shade of red, accepting the embrace. Akane had to hide a grin behind her hand, "We were travelling all over Japan... and China too." She replied for the speechless Ranma.  
Nabiki smirked, "Well, there's something to be said for childhood friends being reunited once again."  
"It's..." Ranma stammered, "Um... er... very nice to... uh... see you again... really... could you let me breathe now, Ko-chan..."  
Tatewaki stood off to the side, looking and feeling a little out of place. Nabiki noticed him and sent a dagger stare his way. Tatewaki noticed the glare and looked away quickly, but it was hard not to feel the hairs on the nape of his neck singing from the intensity of her look.  
Nodoka turned to her husband, a slight reproving look in her eye, "Why didn't you tell me that the reason why we came here was to see Akane and Ranma again. You didn't have to be so mysterious about it."  
Kochou was torn from his conversation with Soun to look sheepishly at his wife, "Er, actually... that wasn't it. I'm as surprised about that as you are..."  
"So what are we here for, father?" Tatewaki asked, eager to be away from Nabiki's simmering menace.  
Soun and Kochou traded satisfied grins before they looked to the two families and said, "For the union of the Tendo and Kuno schools of Anything Goes Martial Arts, of course!"  
"Union?" Nabiki glowered.  
Soun grinned happily, "We'd originally intended for Ranma to marry Kodachi..."  
"WHAT?!" Ranma and Kodachi sputtered.  
"But when Akane and Ranma left, we revised our plan and decided to wed the strongest remaining practitioner left, Nabiki... to Tatewaki." they grinned at the two who were still in an embrace, "They are now engaged."  
"WHAT?!" Nabiki and Tatewaki shouted in unison.  
"An arranged marriage? In this day and age?" Nodoka said disapprovingly, "In the name of martial arts no less. What were you two thinking?" She walked towards the two of them taking each by an ear, and dragged them into another room. She turned just before sliding the door shut with her foot, giving the teens a grim smile, "Excuse us while we sort this out."  
The four remaining Tendos and two Kunos exchanged glances. This certainly didn't look good for their fathers.  
"They can't be serious!" Nabiki ranted.  
"Oh my..." Kodachi said, "They certainly looked like they were." Kasumi nodded agreement.  
Ranma, recovering from his flush, "They were actually thinking of engaging me to you?" he said Kodachi.  
Kodachi smirked playfully, "Is it that hard to imagine?"  
Akane grinned, "Well, you did promise to marry her, right?"  
"We were six at the time!" he cried back.  
Nabiki continued to glower, striding towards Tatewaki. She grabbed him by the lapels, "You'd better NOT be getting any ideas buster!"  
Tatewaki acked, "Erhm... no! Of course not! I had absolutely no notion that father would do such a thing!"  
"Nabiki, lay off of my poor brother." Kodachi chided, "He's had his nose in his journal all week. Besides, we didn't even know we were coming here until we got here."  
"I swear to you on my life!" Tatweaki agreed readily.  
"Be ready to back it up, wimp," Nabiki muttered to him darkly.  
Ranma looked puzzled, "Why are you so mad at Tatewaki-sempai? He didn't do anything to you did he?" as the beginnings of a frown formed on Ranma's face. He might've been away for a while, but no one did anything to any of his sisters.  
"Butt out, Ranma. I can handle this." Nabiki cut him off bluntly. She dragged the elder Kuno's face down so that it was level with hers, "Let's get this straight, buster... no matter what my dad or your mom and dad say we are not, repeat... NOT getting married. Not in a million years, not in a billion got that?!"  
"P-Perfectly." Tatewaki squeaked.  
Akane frowned slightly, and pulled Tatewaki out of Nabiki's grip, "Nabiki, that's enough... you're choking him." She looked up into his relieved face and flashed him a quick smile, "Are you alright, Tatewaki-sempai?"  
Nabiki simmered for a brief moment then strode away with a huff. Kodachi looked half embarrassed and half lost.  
"Oh, many thanks, Akane..." Tatewaki replied.  
"You can thank us by explaining why she's so pissed at you." Akane asked smoothly, easing her glasses up the bridge of her nose again.  
Tatewaki also pushed his glasses up his nose to recompose himself, but before he could reply Kasumi spoke up, "She doesn't like boys."  
Akane and Ranma traded glances. "She doesn't..." they said simultaneously.  
"She hates men..." Kasumi added apologetically. "Are you alright, Tatewaki-kun?"  
He smiled shyly at her, "Yes, thank you very much, Kasumi-san."  
"Please forgive Nabiki," Kasumi said gently, "She is somewhat... high spirited."  
Kodachi smirked, "I've never heard of her referred to in quite that way before."  
Ranma and Akane just traded puzzled glances, "I guess there's a lot we're going to have to get used to." Akane said finally.  
The door finally slid open and a sheepish looking Kochou and Soun stepped out, followed by a stern looking Nodoka.  
"We..." Kochou began in a somewhat diffident tone. He glanced at Soun as if looking for support... then glanced at Nodoka, who nodded, still frowning slightly. "We have an announcement to make."  
"Where's Nabiki?" Soun interrupted.  
"I think she went to the dojo, father," Kasumi replied.  
Kochou looked lost, "Er... but how are we supposed to tell her she's engaged to Tatewaki if she's not here..."  
"I"M WHAT?! NO! ABSOLUTELY NOT NO WAY!!" Nabiki screamed as she stormed back into the family room.  
"Oh my, she's back..." Kasumi said.  
Tatewaki's eyes bugged in fear, seeing Nabiki in the grips of rage... and him a very convenient nearby target, "Father! You can't be serious! She'll kill me!"  
Nodoka poke sternly to Nabiki, "Calm down, please. I've decided that since these two..." she gave the two patriarchs an annoyed glance, "Have already signed a contract to effect the engagement, honor demands that it be followed... but there is one proviso..."  
"Er..." Soun began, "That after a one year betrothal, in the event that you two do not prove to be compatible, Kodachi will be engaged to Ranma..."  
"WHAT?!" Ranma sputtered.  
Kodachi murmured, "Great... we're the back up team."  
There was more that surely needed to be said, but at about that point, everyone began speaking at once.

"So... should we tell them?" Ranma asked his sister, as he smoothed his damp hair away from his eyes.  
Akane shrugged slightly, sweat glistening lightly on her shoulders, "I don't know... I mean what with everything happening all at once, maybe we should let them get used to us being here before we mention anything about what happened to us in China."  
"They're going to find out sooner or later, you know." Ranma replied.  
"It's not as if I can control it, alright?" she shot back peevishly, "Let's just relax and enjoy being home for a while... and worry about it later."  
"If you say so," Ranma deferred.  
"Yes, I do."  
"Fine, then.  
"Fine."  
Long moments passed in comfortable silence between the two, as Akane braided her hair again. It had the quality of certain silences between two people who know each other so well, very little needs to be said. "Well... that was an odd homecoming." Akane said finally, tying her braid off, a smile touching her lips. She eased a little more against the side of the hot tub. The hot water was relaxing her immensely.  
"Not what I was expecting at all." Ranma replied from the other end of the tub, also looking a bit more relaxed. It was a bit of a tight fit... and their feet and legs were entangled with each other, but nothing they weren't used to, "Kinda odd to think Nabiki-nesama is now engaged."  
"To Tatewaki Kuno no less." Akane replied, stifling a giggle, "The two of them sure changed a lot while we were gone... they look like they've hardly got a thing in common."  
"Yeah," Ranma added, "I wonder what dad and uncle Kuno were thinking." Akane leaned forward and said in a teasing tone, "Why? Disappointed you didn't get engaged to Kodachi?"  
"That's not it at all!" Ranma sputtered, a blush creeping up his face.  
"I knew it! You still like her!" Akane said triumphantly.  
"I do not!" Ranma shot back, "But while we're on the subject, weren't you being awfully nice to Tatewaki-sempai, hmmm..?"  
"Was not! I was trying to find out what was going on!" Akane replied with a sniff.  
Ranma grinned cattily, "It's kinda funny actually... with those glasses he's wearing and that haircut... plus the way he talks... he kinda reminds me of the way Doctor Toufuu used to be... I wonder if he still has his clinic here..."  
It was Akane's turn to blush.  
"Ah-hah! Gotcha!"  
"Did not!"  
"Did too!"  
"Hey, what's all the racket in there?!" Nabiki's voice called out as she slid open the door to the bath. Nabiki, still in her gi, stared in shock at a naked Ranma and Akane both sitting in the tub, wrestling playfully with each other. She blushed and turned around quickly, "Ack..!"  
Ranma gave a strangled cry and ducked under the water as far as he would go, positioning his hands strategically to hide what he felt he needed to hide. Akane smiled at Nabiki's back, "Oh. Hi, sis."  
"I... ah... I didn't know you two had gotten so close..." Nabiki stamered, "I'll... I'll just get going now..."  
Akane laughed at Nabiki's discomfort, "It's not like that. Ranma and I just got used to bathing together cause it saves on water. Besides, we've been bathing like this since we were little kids so what's the big deal? Wanna join us? I think we can make a little more room."  
Ranma grumbled something, but it merely came out as a stream of bubbles.  
"Hmmm?" Akane glanced at him.  
Ranma lifted his mouth out of the water for a moment to add, "It was her idea."  
Nabiki looked over her shoulder at the two of them. Her face was a mixture of embarrassment and worry. "But Ranma's a GUY!"  
"He's our brother," Akane replied, "We all used to bathe together when we were little remember?"  
"But that was when we were little..." Nabiki replied blushing and looking away, "I mean we're practically adults now... and isn't it embarrassing to be naked with... with... a guy?!"  
Akane smiled playfully, "What? Worried he's going to try something perverted in the tub? We can always double team him and wallop him out the window."  
Nabiki giggled a little.  
Akane continued with a smirk, "And even if we WERE doing something kinky in here, it's not like there's anything really wrong with it..."  
Nabiki and Ranma both flushed crimson.  
"Akane!" Nabiki frowned.  
"We were nearly done anyway, Nabiki..." Ranma spoke quickly, interupting the potential fight.  
Akane gave Ranma an exasperated look and shrugged, still smiling, "Yeah, I guess we are. Just give us a little while to dry up and change, then you can use the bath, okay?"  
Nabiki nodded curtly, as she turned around and walked out. She shut the bathroom door behind her shaking a little in a stewed mixture of anger at Akane's taunting, embarrassment, shame, and perhaps a little excitement... she murmured softly to herself as she calmed down, "They are DEFINITELY going to take getting used to."  
The rest of the night, passed with nothing of greater magnitude transpiring.

Chapter 2: ...Interesting Times.  
Kasumi set the last of the plates on the table... she smiled at Nabiki as the middle Tendo descended from the stairs, already dressed in her uniform, but not looking particularly happy about it.  
"Oh, Nabiki. Better wake Ranma and Akane up. They're going to be late for school." Kasumi called up to her.  
Nabiki frowned slightly, (not at Kasumi) as she glanced back up, she muttered, "Do I have to? Those two freak me out a little Kasumi..."  
Kasumi gave Nabiki an exasperated sigh.  
"Okay, alright... I'll wake them up, okay?" Nabiki grumbled as she stalked up the steps. She came first to Ranma's door, as indicated by the wooden sign which said in large English letters 'RANMA'. His room and Akane's hadn't been touched since they'd left, except for the occasional dusting by Kasumi. Soun wouldn't allow it.  
She knocked loudly on it, "Hey, Ranma! Get a move on or you're going to be late!"  
She waited for a few seconds... there was no response. She glared at the door angrily for a few minutes, then turned the knob to open it... The room was empty. She glanced around, noting the bed and everything else in it... not only was he not inside, it looked as if it hadn't been slept in at all.  
Nabiki got a nagging suspicion and quickly moved over to Akane's room. Not bothering to knock, Nabiki quietly eased the door open and peeked in. At first glance, there was a single figure on the bed, largely covered by the sheets. Nabiki could see the rhythmic rise and fall as it breathed... The mound began to stir and Nabiki nearly panicked, half closing the door. The mound resolved into two sleeping figures, as Akane turned over in her sleep, moving half out of Ranma's enfolding arms... they both seemed to be wearing similar tanktops and were still entangled with one another and with the sheets.  
Nabiki could only stare in shock.  
Ranma blinked his eyes open sleepily and looked at Nabiki, "Mmm? Oh. Hi, Nabiki... morning already?"  
Nabiki nodded dumbly.  
"S'good," he turned towards Akane, still more than half asleep... for a moment, Nabiki wondered to herself if he was going to kiss Akane awake.  
"Sis... get up... we got school..." Ranma said softly.  
"Don't wanna," Akane mumbled sleepily, her eyes still closed, "Lemme sleep."  
"C'mon... up and at em, sis."  
"Lemme sleep a little more..." her voice dropped to a husky whisper, "I'll do anything..."  
"Anything?" Ranma grinned slightly, resting his forehead on hers.  
Nabiki flushed crimson... they couldn't be talking about what I think they're talking about... are they?  
"Anything..." Akane continued in her sleepy mumble, her arms wrapping around Ranma's neck.  
"Nabiki's here you know," Ranma replied getting a little nervous as he glanced at her over his shoulder.  
"So let her watch," Akane mumbled.  
Nabiki managed to stammer, "I'll... um... I'll just go on down ahead, why don't I? Right. Scuse me..." as she hastily backed out of the room.  
Akane's eyes finally blinked open to the sight of Ranma's earnest face, "Did we freak her out again?"  
"I think so," he replied.  
She grinned playfully, "She really has GOT to loosen up."  
""I'm wondering what she thinks we were doing..." Ranma said, moving to roll off of her.  
"Isn't it obvious?" Akane kissed her brother on the cheek, before she rolled off the bed on the opposite side and the two of them began to change out of their bedclothes.  
Akane and Ranma rushed down the stairs quickly, dressed once more in their identical red Chinese shirts, and loose black pants. Kasumi smiled at them, "Better hurry. Nabiki went on ahead."  
"So how do we get to school?" Akane asked curiously, grabbing at the two proffered lunchboxes.  
"I'm walking you there." Kodachi said from the door, smiling at the two, "Hi, Ran-chan, Akane-chan."  
"Ko-chan." Ranma grinned happily.  
Akane rolled her eyes slightly, but smiled as well.  
"Let's hurry or we're going to be late." Kodachi said to the pair, inclining her head towards the gate.  
"You two have a good day at school!" Kasumi called after the trio as they left. "Oh my... it's so good that they seem to be getting along so well." She said to no one in particular.

"I'm wondering why Nabiki took off so early..." Akane said, following Ranma on the fence. The two of them were balancing on it, while holding hands. Kodachi watched them with a little stab of jealousy.  
"Oh, that's easy... she wants to be done with the boys early." Kodachi replied.  
"Boys..?" Ranma said thoughtfully. He spared little thought to keeping his balance... he and Akane did this sort of thing so often it was automatic.  
Akane raised an eyebrow and pushed her glasses back with her free hand, "Is she that popular? But I thought you said she didn't like boys?"  
Kodachi laughed lightly. A soft, musical laughter that reminded Ranma favorably of chimes, "Oh, you might say that. But to see is to believe I suppose."  
"So how have you been Kodachi?" Akane asked after a moment. She gave her brother a sly look and said, "Ranma was wondering about you most of the way back home."  
Ranma gave a choked exclamation and whirled around to face Akane, "Hey!" He was blushing slightly.  
Kodachi brought a hand up to her mouth to hide her smile and the light blush coming to her cheeks. She looked at Akane, wide-eyed, "Really?"  
Akane nodded suppressing a giggle, "Sure... every night it was 'I wonder how Ko-chan is?' or 'I wonder if she still remembers me?'..."  
"Stop that!" Ranma roared, taking a jab at Akane's midsection... she responded by sweeping his thrust to the side and simultaneously responding with a jab of her own to his head... the two began to fight in earnest, exchanging rapid blows back and forth, neither one making contact.  
"Well it's true!" Akane laughed, ducking a nasty overhand swipe to her head to which she replied with a thrust kick to his shin.  
"You didn't have to tell her!" Ranma shot back, blushing furiously as he jumped over the kick and aimed one of his own snap kicks at her shoulder which she easily blocked... neither had fallen off the narrow fence yet. Come to that neither had been hit.  
Kodachi could only watch in wonder at the flurry of blows the two were exchanging. She'd never seen anyone move that fast... or with such precision. What she'd seen of the Tendo School of Anything Goes Martial Art had only been Nabiki's particular take on the style... which was decidedly less... elegant.  
"Er... guys... we're going to be late if you keep that up..." Kodachi pointed out as the pair exchanged what was perhaps their fiftieth series of blows with no contact.  
Snapped out of their rhythm, the Tendo siblings blinked at Kodachi. Ranma bounced off the fence, landing next to her, "Honest, it's not like that at all!" he pleaded.  
Kodachi looked at his earnest worried face and had a hard time keeping herself from giggling.  
Ranma gulped nervously.  
Akane joined Kodachi's giggling.  
"What?" Ranma asked finally, getting mildly irritated.  
"Oh, Ran-chan... you needn't have worried about it. It's really..." the blush which still hadn't left her cheeks caught fire again, "It's very flattering."  
"Told you she wouldn't mind." Akane said with a superior air.  
"You shut up!" Ranma shouted at Akane. It was half bluster, and half laughed.  
"It's really okay?" Ranma asked Kodachi, trying to hide the smile that was threatening to engulf his face.  
Kodachi nodded, looking down a bit to hide the blush as it spread. "Yes... really."  
Akane watched the two with a slightly superior smirk, pushing her glasses up her nose once more. It was so simple... her stupid brother never did learn how to do things the easy way, she mused.  
"Let's go! I want to see if I can catch the tail end of Nabiki's performance." Kodachi suddenly said, no doubt attempting to change the topic. She beckoned them onward, beginning to fall into a run.  
"Performance?" The Tendo siblings said simultaneously as they fell into a comfortable pace behind Kodachi, Ranma looking up at Akane who was still running on the fence and looking down at him.  
They were still a good three blocks away from the school when the echoing sounds of battle, screams of agony and battle cries began to filter towards them.  
"Sounds like a fight..." Ranma said to no one in particular. "Hey! That sounds like Nabiki's voice!" Akane said, slightly alarmed as she jumped off the fence finally. Picking up the pace, Ranma matched her speed, the two of them overtaking Kodachi.  
Kodachi nodded, smiling slightly, "Nothing..." she puffed, a little out of breath, "She can't handle..!" She was surprised that neither of the two looked as if they'd so much as broken out into a sweat... and she was already faltering a little. They easily outdistanced her, running directly for the noises... she sighed, slowing down a little... well, it wouldn't hurt to be a little late... she panted heavily.

"For the last time you jerks... GET OUT OF MY WAY!!" Nabiki's voice carried several blocks as Ranma and Akane turned the corner. They arrived just in time to see Nabiki drive the heel of her palm into the jaw of an awkward, hefty fellow in a hockey mask, while simultaneously driving a foot behind her into the groin of a rotund unfortunate in a sumo outfit.  
Every male within a few meters of this event winced involuntarily. As Nabiki was in the center of a crowd of boys, she took their momentary stupefaction to do a roundhouse kick knocking three of the last seven boys into one another and opening up more room for her to maneuver.  
"What is she doing?" Akane asked curiously, her glasses pushed up once more.  
Ranma blinked, squirming uneasily, "Er... it looks like she's beating the living daylights out of those guys."  
"I can see that," Akane snapped at him testily.  
"Think we should help her?" Ranma asked Akane.  
"Are you kidding? Look at her!" she replied as Nabiki nimbly dodged a baseball bat swung by one boy and drove her knee into his midsection, "We'll jump in if it looks like she needs help.  
Kodachi finally caught up with the pair as Nabiki handily polished off the last three boys with single strikes as they tried to rush her. Nabiki stood in the middle of the school courtyard, totally unhurt. A large number of unconscious and injured boys were scattered all around her as she breathed heavily through her teeth. "You'd think they'd have all learned by now," she seethed as the bell rang. The small crowds of milling students who'd been watching immediately rushed to the main building, a few shouting, "We're going to be late!!"  
"Missed it. Pity." Kodachi sagged.  
"What was she doing?" Akane asked Kodachi a little uncertainly.  
Kodachi looked up to answer her, but noticed the school's watch, "Let's get inside the gate first... Principal's daughter or not, they'd still lock me out." Kodachi said prodding them through the gates.  
Akane and Ranma traded uncertain glances as they walked onto the school grounds. Nabiki stormed off into the building ahead of them, ignoring everyone else. Overhead the sky began to darken and rumble. Akane gave a nervous upward glance at the sky. She and Ranma traded a look and they both ran for the school building just as the first drops began to fall.

Nabiki strode confidently into her sophomore classroom. Outside, the brief squall had stopped and the sun was shining again. A few of the girls, her friends, smiled at her in congratulations. What few boys were in the class kept well away from her, and if they weren't cowering in terror, they were doing a convincing simulation. The rest of course had already been carted away to the infirmary. Only one boy wasn't shying away, if anything he was simply sitting distractedly at his desk, jotting something down in a small bound journal. It was of course, Tatewaki.  
As Nabiki passed she paused to glare at him. Hiding a nervous gulp, he hurriedly shut the journal, leaving his pen inside to mark his place to look up at her. A terrorized smile on his face, "Er... Greetings, Nabiki Tendo... did you have an enjoyable time dispatching those miscreants?"  
Nabiki leaned close, frowning furiously and muttered, "Not a word, Kuno. Breathe one word of the stupid engagement to ANYONE and I'm going to kill you. Got that?"  
"Absolutely, Miss Tendo."  
She gave him a derisive snort and stomped angrily over to her own table. The ladies of the class seeing the shaken Kuno began to talk animatedly, if in hushed tones, among themselves.  
"Did you see that?", "Nabiki talked to a boy! Tatewaki no less!", "She's already got all the boys chasing after her and now she's going after Tatewaki-sama! Hmph!", "No way.", "Only man with any brains or class in this place and now she's picking on him...", "She's just plain mean."  
In the interests of peace and tranquility, it was fortunate that this escaped Nabiki's attention. Her attention totally consumed with rereading a small, delicately folded piece of stationary. And blushing.

Meanwhile in the freshman classroom... The teacher stood at the head of the class and looked over the transcript he had in hand, "Everyone, these are Akane and Ranma Tendo, they're brother and sister, and they'll be transferring to Furinkan High School for this term..."  
"Yo," Ranma said giving a quick wave.  
"Hi," Akane with a smile and formal bow, "Nice to meet you all."  
The students in the class looked at one another and the soft whispered muttering commonly associated with the rumor mills began to turn.  
"Tendo? Are they related to Nabiki?", "No way...", "Cool outfits...", "Are they twins?", "Whooo... she's almost as cute as Nabiki...", "Shaddup, no one's as cute as Nabiki!", "Oh yeah?!" "Yeah!", "What about Kodachi?", "Ranma, huh... not bad, almost as good looking at Kuno-sempai...", "Cuter!", "No way!"  
Ranma blushed slightly as he noticed Kodachi giving him a small, half hidden smile from her seat. She could hear the rumors beginning to crop up. By the looks of things, the new Tendos looked like they would be popular additions to the Furinkan community.  
"AHEM," the teacher rumbled pointedly, stopping the mutterings, "It seems that they recently came from China, so let's all give them a warm welcome, however, that doesn't excuse the fact that they and Kodachi Kuno were late. So I'm terribly sorry, but you three have to go stand out in the hall."  
As Kodachi rose, there were murmurs of protest from the class, but she silenced them with a sweet smile and walked out smoothly, following the Tendos just as the class began.

The three found themselves standing in the hallway carrying a pair of buckets each... For Ranma and Akane it was practically a joke... neither looked as if they were having any difficulty at all. Kodachi's arms were already beginning to feel a mild strain.  
Akane glanced at Kodachi, "Boy, this is kind of brutal... I would think with your dad as the principal, you'd be immune to this sort of thing."  
Kodachi smiled gamely back, "Of course not. Fair is fair. I have to take my punishment like everyone else."  
Akane shrugged, "I guess. I just would've thought you would've had some sort of special privilege or something."  
"Well everyone lets me go first at the food line, does that count?" Kodachi smiled.  
Ranma finally spoke up, "Hey, Ko-chan... what was that fight earlier all about anyway?"  
"Yeah I was wondering too." Akane said.  
Kodachi chuckled softly, "Oh, that. Well... Nabiki's always been popular with the boys since she transferred here. She wasn't too happy about it because there were always these guys underfoot trying to ask her for dates."  
"Nabiki? Really?" Ranma asked in surprise.  
Akane grinned at him, "What's the matter, can't believe good looks run in the family?"  
"Well... that's true." Ranma replied.  
Kodachi gave a grin and continued, "In any case, she got fed up with it and last term, she finally told this one really obnoxious guy that the she'd never date anyone who couldn't beat her."  
The Tendo siblings blinked, "She said that?" they asked simultaneously.  
Kodachi nodded, "She most certainly did. Next thing anyone knew, the boys had gotten it into their heads that the only way they could get a date out of Nabiki was if they managed to defeat her in combat. So they've been attacking her like that every morning for the past term or so. Nabiki's social calendar to date however remains rather empty."  
"Every morning?" Ranma said.  
"And she always wins?" Akane asked, intrigued.  
"Well, you did see what happened, right?" Kodachi asked with a smile. "the guys tend to get in one another's way instead of cooperating, and Nabiki IS pretty good."  
"Why hasn't she just told them off?" Akane asked.  
Kodachi shrugged, "She tried a couple of times, but I guess the boys didn't listen. Some people think she enjoys beating their heads in, though." She gave a slight wince as she shifted the buckets.  
Akane gave a slight nervous glance at the buckets and shifted back uneasily.  
"What's wrong, Akane?" Kodachi asked, noting her discomfiture.  
"Um... nothing. Just don't want to get my clothes wet," she said weakly. Her brother gave a relieved sigh.  
"I wonder how this is going to affect their engagement?" Akane mused, trying to change the topic.  
Kodachi shook her head, bemused, "Well, my brother is well liked by the girls here, but he's too shy and bookish to do anything about it. He and Nabiki never did seem to like each other much, even before the engagement. I'm not sure how people would react to it, but I'd guess it wouldn't be too good if people found out."  
"How's that?" Ranma asked.  
Akane nodded grasping the situation, "The girls would resent Nabiki... the boys would resent Tatewaki..."  
"Although not necessarily," Kodachi continued, "You see..."  
They looked up in surprise as chimes sounded on the school's PA system.  
"Good morning, everyone," came Principal Kuno's cultured voice over the speakers, "I'd just like to take a few moments of your time for a special announcement..."  
Kodachi and Akane's eyes both widened, "He wouldn't!" they said simultaneously.  
"Wouldn't what?" Ranma asked baffled.  
"This is to inform everyone of the engagement of my son, Tatewaki Kuno..."

Every eye in the room turned to look at Tatewaki as the announcement continued. His face was horror stricken and utterly mortified as he listened helplessly to his father's... his IDIOT father's announcement.  
Nabiki's face held an entirely different expression... a mixture of bewildered embarrassment and righteous fury as she heard the principal's voice continue. Her hands grasped the table so tightly it was cracking under her fingers.  
"No, no, no..." Tatewaki murmured to himself like a prayer of protection... because he knew he'd be needing one very soon.  
"... to Nabiki Tendo..."  
Too late! Tatewaki leapt to his feet, clutching his journal worriedly as he made a mad dash for the door. Everyone looked about in confusion asking each other, asking Nabiki everyone looking for confirmation. A few heavily bandaged boys struggled to their feet determined to catch up with him. Nabiki roared, "Come back here you wimp!" as she dashed off after Kuno.  
"...I'd like everyone to help congratulate the happy couple!" the principal's voice continued, but no one was listening anymore as people streamed out of the class room, some wanting to know what was going on, some intent on protecting Kuno from Nabiki, some intent on killing Kuno, others just intent on Nabiki. The teacher simply stood dumbfounded as his class emptied into the halls.

"He did it. I don't believe my father could be that foolish..." Kodachi sighed.  
"Well, I guess we get to see what happens now," Akane shrugged, grinning a little.  
Ranma perked up a little, "What's that rumbling noise?"  
Almost without warning the windows to the classroom behind them burst open, the entire class crowding forward each trying to make themselves heard over the confused babble of voices.  
"Kodachi, is it true?!", "Hey, are you guys related to Nabiki?!", "Is Tatewaki really going to be married to Nabiki?", "Kodachi! What was your brother thinking?", "Say are you available for a date later, cutie?", "Why didn't you tell us?", "Is it true?", "How long has your brother been seeing Nabiki secretly?", "C'mon you can tell us!", "Did Nabiki really force herself onto your brother and she's now preggers?"  
Akane stepped closer to her brother without thinking, the two of them moving into a defensive stance automatically. Ranma meanwhile smiled sheepishly at the crowd, as Kodachi crowded against him.  
"It's not what you think guys..." Kodachi smiled uneasily at the crowd.  
The cries of "Kodachi, tell us what's going on!" were picking up steam even as the teacher inside the classroom tried desperately to regain control.  
Akane grinned, thinking quick... she stepped towards the other wall of the hallway and said to the class at large, "I am now hereby accepting wagers as to how long the Tatewaki Kuno, Nabiki Tendo engagement will last! Place your bets, folks!" Akane pulled out a small pad and a pen.  
The class gave a roar of approval and the cries shifted from ones of curiosity to ones of greed as people called out wagers. Of course this conflicted with the noise already produced by those people who were STILL curious.  
Ranma sighed and rolled his eyes, moving himself protectively close to Kodachi. She didn't seem to notice Ranma's proximity. Kodachi was too busy being... she wasn't sure WHAT the right emotion was... probably being astonished... at Akane, "What?! What are you doing Akane?!"  
Akane muttered in a soft voice to Kodachi, continuing to smile the whole while, "Getting their focus off of you..." she nodded to Ranma who nodded back.  
Ranma scooped Kodachi up in his arms and had ducked down the hallway before their confused classmates could register the fact... Akane accepted the class' bets and did her best to explain away the situation as her brother and Kodachi rounded the corner.  
"You didn't need to do that!" Kodachi sputtered from Ranma's arms, "I could easily have answered the questions, this wasn't necessary."  
"Yeah, maybe," Ranma replied, "On the other hand, sis wants a chance to check the field... and I think she was trying to get me alone with you," he blushed slightly.  
Kodachi also blushed as she was carried further down the hall, "You can stop and let me down already you know..." she said after a few seconds of quiet running had passed.  
Ranma slowed to a stop, gently letting Kodachi back onto her feet. She was smiling awkwardly at Ranma who was also giving the same smile back. Kodachi frowned slightly then asked, "What do you mean Akane wanted to check the field?"  
"Er..." Ranma hesitated for a moment. He glanced back, but they were far enough away that the noise from the class was merely a dull chattering, "She likes to size up every new school we go to for possible ways to make more money."  
"She does that?" Kodachi asked.  
"Yeah... stuff like her taking bets, making friends with the right people..." then he added in a grumble, "Renting me out to the varsity teams on a per hour basis... whatever we had to do to survive."  
"I guess life on the road must've been pretty difficult for you?"  
Ranma smiled gamely back, "Well, a bit, but it was fun too. And we had each other so that made things a lot easier." Kodachi didn't know what to make of that statement, but an odd twinge of jealousy made its presence known. She merely nodded quietly.  
The awkward silence stretched out for a painfully long time. They both moved as if to speak, but there was an interruption as Tatewaki came barreling down the stairwell, slamming the door shut behind him. In his panic and terror, he did not spot them immediately and ran back into the direction where Ranma and Kodachi had come from.  
With a powerful scream of rage Nabiki burst through the stairwell door as well, splintering the wooden door to matchsticks. "Kuno! You are dead!"  
Ranma and Kodachi stood rooted in surprise. Kodachi looked as if she were about to call out to the Tendo sister, but Ranma could see she was utterly furious. Over the Principal's announcement, no doubt, so he reasoned it was a fairly safe assumption that his elder sister would not be particularly happy with ANY Kuno at this point. So he didn't waste time thinking or reasoning with Nabiki. He scooped up Kodachi, and dashed off after Tatewaki, rounding the corner with impressive speed. Nabiki caught the movement, but not who it was... but there was only one person hiding from her, wasn't there? Nabiki snarled as she ran down the hall. Behind her, the rest of her class came pouring out of the stairwell, all still shouting questions.  
Akane, meanwhile, was busy with the beginnings of getting to know everyone better. She bantered easily with her classmates, accepting the bets, giving out slips, chatting and gathering gossip... it was a good start.  
Just as she accepted a ridiculously large bet on 'tomorrow', Tatewaki Kuno barreled down the hall at high speed. The crowd's attention suddenly shifted to him. The crowd, which had by this point surrounded Akane, moved with surprising speed to surround Kuno to badger him with their questions.  
Tatewaki had run to this particular hall in hopes of finding assistance from his sister. Preferably in hiding him... he gave an alarmed cry as the crowd surged towards him, thinking that the crowd which had been chasing him had somehow managed to get ahead of him.  
Akane on the other hand was not too happy at losing the attention of her new classmates. But she could also see Kuno's obvious distress and panic. She felt a momentary sympathy for the poor boy as he stood rooted in mortal terror. Tatewaki's eyes constantly scanning the crowd for signs of Nabiki. Akane sighed sympathetically and jumped over the crowd. She flipped easily over them landing next to Tatewaki before the mob could.  
"Where's my sister?! She must help me! Nabiki's going to kill me!!" Kuno said quickly.  
An anonymous wit in the audience called out a wager on the order of 'one hour.  
"She went down that hallway," Akane replied, "Didn't you pass her?"  
Tatewaki was about to say 'No' when a number of things occurred simultaneously. The crowd managed to surround the two of them, pinning them next to the windows. Ranma, also somewhat panicked and still carrying the struggling Kodachi, careened down the hall weaving in and out of the crowd, and occasionally jumping on people's heads just to get past. "Outta my way! Coming through, one side!! Coming through!" Ranma cried out as he passed.  
Neither of the two couples noticed each other due to the mob... however what happened next got everyone's attention.  
Nabiki skidded to a halt at the corner, noticing the crowd with Tatewaki at the very center of it all. She managed to roar out, "KUNO!!! You are a DEAD MAN!" before the OTHER crowd... barreled into her.  
In response, Akane grabbed Tatewaki by the collar and pulled him with her out the window, "Time for a quick escape Kuno-sempai..." she called out to him.  
Tatewaki screamed, "But we're on the third floor!"  
"It's no problem sempai, really! This is nothing..." Akane replied confidently, shifting him so that she had him cradled in her arms. It was difficult as she was much smaller than he was, but he was certainly in no position to resist.  
Tatewaki clung on for dear life, remarking as they passed the second floor, "At least the pool should cushion our fall..."  
Akane cried out in alarm. "Water! Why does it always have to be water?!" as her horrified gaze took in the sight of the placid filled pool.  
Simultaneous with Akane's leap, Nabiki's bellow sent portions of both crowds running off in various directions... except for those who were watching in horrified fascination as Akane and Kuno jumped out the window. Various screams, cries for help and terrorized calls were made and somewhere along the line, someone must've pulled a fire alarm, perhaps by accident, perhaps not, sending people from ALL the classrooms streaming out, adding to the milling confusion already existing.  
Ranma didn't notice this at all as he carried the younger Kuno off well ahead of the first crowd, the second crowd, or the new and much larger crowd which was being formed by the fire alarm.  
And as Ranma ran down the stairs, everyone else was too confused or distant, (or in Tatewaki Kuno's case unconscious from the impact) to notice the soaking wet figure, with the face and form of Ranma, easily lift Kuno out of the pool, and bear him off somewhere safer.

Ranma stopped running by the time they'd reached the rear of the gym. He hardly looked winded as he spared a backward glance him, "I think we lost her."  
Kodachi gave him a rather sardonic look, "I think we lost everyone. Why did you pick me up? I've got two perfectly good legs you know," she lifted first one dainty foot then the other, as if to illustrate the point.  
Ranma paused a moment to admire them as her skirt hiked up a little. "Erhm... no argument," he said after a moment. He caught himself staring after a moment and tore his gaze away to meet hers, "Er... um... I wanted to make sure we got away from Nabiki... she looked really ticked."  
"True enough," Kodachi sighed, "I didn't realize she'd be this angry about the engagement. Poor Tatchi."  
"Yeah," Ranma sighed in agreement.  
They were silent for several long moments. Ranma's thoughts, what could be discussed of them, were mostly a confused jumble, but uppermost was the thought of how light Kodachi seemed in his arms... and so warm. Kodachi's thoughts, in addition to her annoyance at her father, not to mention worry for both her brother and Nabiki, were constantly being interrupted by how comfortable Ranma's arms felt... how nice it was.  
Kodachi chanced to glance at Ranma who was staring off quietly into the distance, to notice a slight blush beginning to develop on his cheeks. She was unaware that her own face was developing a similar blush.  
"Ahh..." Kodachi said softly after a few moments, "Maybe you should put me down."  
Ranma blinked in surprise, glancing at her. He smiled sheepishly, "Um... Er... yeah... I guess I ought to," he said a little regretfully.  
"Yes." Kodachi said, also a little reluctant... she could definitely get used to this.  
"Uh-huh," Ranma agreed. Glancing off into the distance once more... he was certain he could probably hold her like this for days.  
The two once more lapsed into silence.  
Kodachi bit back a giggle, "Any time now, Ranma."  
"Oh," Ranma said, shaken out of his stupor once more, "You meant now?"  
"Yes," she said unable to keep the amusement out of her voice anymore, "Not that I don't... you know..." she blushed more, "Enjoy, you holding me in your arms like this, but people will talk."  
"Well, maybe it'd get the heat off of Tatewaki-sempai and sis." Ranma replied thoughtfully.  
"Oh, you want to make that sacrifice for them do you?" she asked coyly.  
Ranma stammered, the blush on his own face deepening, "Well... you know... it's... we... I mean if they don't... we do, right? So we get... you know... get along... okay, right?"  
Kodachi nodded slowly, "I... I guess. By the looks of things now, they look like they won't last a week, much less a year."  
Ranma said shyly, "Well... you know... honor of both schools at stake and everything... Guess we have to keep them from killing each other." He finished weakly.  
She nodded in agreement a little reluctantly, "We'd better talk to them."  
"Yup."  
"I'm glad we understand each other."  
"And if they still don't..."  
"I wouldn't really mind. If they broke up... I mean..." Kodachi said after a moment, returning his smile.  
Ranma gulped nervously, "Really?"  
"Yes, really," Kodachi replied, her arms around his neck tightening slightly.  
Ranma smiled weakly, looking into her eyes, "Me neither."  
There was another long silence as they exchanged glances, broken only by the distant clamor of the fire alarm and the milling students who had only now come out of the building.  
Kodachi said finally as a gust of wind blew past, "You really should put me down, though."

Akane... no... she or rather HE was Akaru at the moment... sighed. He laid Kuno down gently against the tree, his face sleeping peacefully, despite the fact that he'd managed to get himself knocked unconscious when they'd hit the pool together. The bump was minor, and wasn't likely to be very serious, but he wanted to make sure. The infirmary would've been the best place to take him, only Akaru had no idea which way it was... and even worse, the building was in the process of being evacuated, making looking for the infirmary all the more difficult.  
He gave a disgusted snort, rubbing his chest lightly. "Stupid curse," he muttered before giving Kuno a second look.  
They'd both managed to lose their glasses in the pool, but Akaru had managed to grab them both before they'd gotten too far. Kuno's face was very aristocratic. And handsome, he admitted to himself. Tatewaki was quite handsome. His curly hair tousled and damp from their immersion in the pool, he still managed to look charmingly disheveled rather than messy. Kuno's uniform, like his own clothes were soaked. But that would dry out easily enough, once the clouds cleared up again. And the body underneath was surprisingly well muscled. Interestingly enough, unconsciousness notwithstanding, Kuno had managed to keep a death grip on his journal. It was fortunate that the leather outer casing was on it, otherwise, the paper would've been reduced to runny pulp.  
Akaru reached a hand down to take the journal out of Kuno's grasp... nominally to allow it to dry, actually out of curiosity. But the unconscious boy's grip was surprisingly strong, and Akaru was forced to give up. Before he could really stop to think about it... he reached a hand up, lightly caressing Tatewaki's face... causing him to stir. Panicked and embarrassed, Akaru leapt to his feet as Tatewaki blinked his eyes groggily awake, "Uh... what happened..." he looked up at Akaru who was towering over him. His eyes were of course blurry enough for lacking their glasses. It was made all the worse by the fact that Akaru stood backlit by the glare of the sky.  
Tatewaki groaned softly, "Oww my head... Ranma? Is that you?"  
"Er... yes, Kuno-sempai..." Akaru lied.  
"Where did my glasses... what happened?"  
"Nabiki chased us... I... er... Akane pulled you out of the crowd. Oh and here's your glasses..." Akaru added, handing over one pair of spectacles.  
"Akane did that? Well, I must remember to thank her then," Kuno replied easily. He squinted at Akaru's hand offering the glasses. As he accepted them, Akaru immediately bolted, oddly flustered and self-conscious.  
As Kuno looked up again, several things weren't quite right. First of all, Ranma or who he thought was Ranma had disappeared. There wasn't anyone nearby. Second the glasses not only didn't fit right, his vision was STILL blurry. And worse, his glasses were expensive wire frame aviator glasses... these were cheap black plastic hornrims... he took the glasses off to get a better look at them... if anything they reminded him of Akane's glasses.

Nabiki grumbled angrily at the end of the day, it had been bad it had been lousy it had been terrible. She wanted nothing more than to get home, back to the dojo and take her stress out on some bricks as soon as possible. She opened her shoe locker just as she was getting to leave. She closed her eyes before reaching in. She hoped there would be one today. There was always one, sometimes no more than a few hastily jotted down words instead of his usual eloquence, but he never forgot. Never. But she was always worried that whoever it was would stop. Considering the day's events, she couldn't blame him... she lowered her hands onto her shoes, her eyes still closed. Then she felt the texture of paper and gave a relieved sigh. He hadn't forgotten.  
She pulled the sheet of paper out, it's outer edges slightly wrinkled and watermarked. Handwritten on it, in beautifully rendered brushstrokes was:

Dearest Nabiki,

You have been busy. I will be thinking of you. Do not forget me.

As always, it was unsigned, but she knew the handwriting so well that there was no need. For a brief moment, the scowl on her face vanished, replaced by a relieved, happy smile as she held the paper close to her heart. Before anyone else could see, she refolded the paper carefully, slipping it into her pocket.

Akane and Ranma walked morosely into the Tendo household, followed closely by a simmering Nabiki.  
All three called out at the same time, "We're home!"  
Kasumi peeked out of the kitchen, wearing her usual sunny smile, "Oh, welcome home. How was school?"  
"Lousy," Nabiki said.  
"Could've been worse," Ranma and Akane said together.  
"I'm going to the dojo..." Nabiki said and stalked off before anyone else could say anything.  
"Oh my..." Kasumi murmured, "So how did your first day turn out? What happened?"  
"Principal Kuno announced Nabiki and Tatewaki's engagement to the whole school," Ranma explained, "Next thing we know, there's a riot... then the fire alarm went off, and about three fourths of the male student body of the school is out hunting Tatewaki. On the upshot all of our morning classes got cancelled, and no one showed up for the afternoon classes."  
"That's nice," Kasumi replied happily, "Well, I need to get back to my cooking..."  
As Kasumi stepped back into the kitchen, humming merrily, Akane turned to her brother, "You know... nobody can be that cheerful... is she on medication, you think?"  
Ranma gave Akane a disapproving glance and she grinned playfully at him, sticking her tongue out.  
"Come on... let's join Nabiki in the dojo... she really looks like she needs to talk," Akane said.  
Ranma gave her a worried glance, "You've got another scheme again..."  
"Trust me! Everything will be fine. I promise," Akane smiled brightly at him.  
"Yeah, but there's usually a catch somewhere," Ranma shrugged as she tugged him towards the dojo, he muttered darkly, "I still remember your scheme with Azusa..."  
"It worked, didn't it?" Akane asked with an enigmatic grin.  
"Yeah, but I ended up in twice as much trouble because of it!"  
"But I got you out, didn't I?" Akane smirked.  
"Well... yeah..."  
"See? It'll work out great, trust me!"  
"Alright already. Hey, what happened to your glasses?"  
"Er... must've lost them somewhere..." Akane said vaguely.  
The two found Nabiki who had since changed into her gi in the process of shattering five stacked hollow blocks. Bare handed. With a single strike. "Wow." Ranma muttered.  
Akane nodded slowly and moved her mental assessment of Nabiki upward by another notch or so.  
Nabiki dusted her hands then whirled around suddenly, facing the two, eyes furious, "What do you two want?!"  
Akane approached slowly, "Well... we thought you might like to talk..?" she said smiling placatingly.  
Ranma, a bit more timid, took a step back... whooo boy she was really ticked.  
Nabiki glared at the two for a long moment then seemed to suddenly deflate... as if all the anger had been suddenly let out of her. She straightened up, chuckling wryly, "I guess this isn't exactly the homecoming you two were expecting, huh?"  
Akane smiled at her, "No... not at all."  
Ranma shook his head.  
Nabiki smiles sadly, "Sorry... I know I haven't exactly been acting like the best big sister in the world... a bit like an insane raving madwoman, hmmm?"  
"Erhm... I wouldn't say that..." Ranma began to say.  
Akane kept a diplomatic silence.  
Nabiki grinned at her two younger siblings, "Okay... enough of this... I need to relax and you two can help me."  
Ranma and Akane traded glances, "You want to take a bath with us?" they asked incredulously.  
Nabiki blushed crimson, "No! That's not it!" She went down into a combat stance, "Let's spar."  
"But there's two of us..." Ranma started to say.  
"And I fight fifty guys everyday, come on... Fight me!"  
The two glanced at one another then back to Nabiki. They shared a shrug and also went down into defensive stances side by side.  
Nabiki dropped to a very low crouch, whirling her leg out to sweep her two siblings, but Akane and Ranma picked up on the move very quickly, both leaping straight up into the air to avoid the leg.  
Nabiki glanced up, watching in surprise as Akane leapt to a height of about six feet, somehow kicking out and flipping over onto Ranma's shoulders just as he landed. Before Nabiki could reposition herself, Akane had launched herself from a crouch on her brother's shoulders into a flying shoulder tackle right at Nabiki's head.  
Thinking fast, Nabiki rolled backwards as Akane sailed over her. Her bare feet caught Akane in the stomach, but Akane's forward motion and her own backward roll combined to keep either of them from getting hurt. Akane touched ground lightly, rolling quickly back to her feet as Nabiki kicked back up.  
Ranma wasted no time as Nabiki regained her feet and sent a roundhouse kick at her. Nabiki ducked under it, rising back into a vicious uppercut as Ranma's leg cut the air above her. Ranma, managing to retain his balance, despite the awkward position, leaned back just far enough to avoid Nabiki's punch.  
"Ahem," Akane said distinctly, sending her own leg around in a low sweep for her sister's legs. Nabiki barely managed to see the attack coming. She leapt out and sidewards, trying to keep herself from being boxed in by her two siblings. She grinned. She hadn't fought anyone this good in a long time. The three whirled to face one another, returning to their ready stances.  
Nabiki grinned, "Hey, you two are really good."  
"Thanks," Akane returned the grin.  
Nabiki gave a battle cry and suddenly rushed towards them, fist raised for a thrust strike. She lashed out at Akane as she came within range. The younger girl whirled around and sidestepped, intending to deliver a blow to Nabiki's back while she was still unbalanced from the strike. With perfect timing, Ranma dropped to the ground, whirling his own leg out into a low sweep. They attacked Nabiki simultaneously from above and below, moving in opposite directions.  
Nabiki moved automatically, snapping her rear leg straight, she sprang forward, narrowly avoiding both attacks. She rolled back to her feet lunging back at both of them with a series of combination kicks and punches. This sort of maneuver always worked well on the guys who attacked her in the mornings... but she was amazed to find Ranma and Akane easily ducking and weaving between each strike, but even more amazing was that neither got in the other's way. They spread out on either side of her, forcing her to divide her attentions between the two, her every strike avoided.  
Akane and Ranma both watched Nabiki's furious attack. It was an all out assault, but she left surprisingly few openings in her defense... the two waited until they found a particularly large gap in Nabiki's defenses... then, the two, without a word exchanged between them reached out suddenly. Akane touched a finger to the middle of Nabiki's chest and Ranma touched his own finger to Nabiki's back, along her spine.  
Stunned Nabiki glanced at one... then the other... then back, "I can't believe you both got me at the same time," she said weakly and breathlessly.  
Akane and Ranma both said suddenly, glancing at each other, "We did?"  
They both peered over Nabiki's shoulders to look at what the other had done.  
There was a moment's pause before all three suddenly burst into laughter.  
Nabiki grinned when they'd managed to recover their breath, "I'm just glad it was you two who beat me."  
Akane looked thoughtfully at Nabiki, "Instead of those guys at school right?"  
Nabiki flushed slightly, "A bunch of raving idiots."  
"Don't you get tired of it all, Nabiki?" Akane asked slowly. Ranma knew she was baiting the hook... he just hoped he didn't get too badly caught up in the fallout this time.  
"Of course I'm tired of it," Nabiki said with a sigh, "Every single day... I mean, get real. The training is good and all, but they're getting really tiresome about it."  
Akane grinned, "Well, I think I can rid you of that problem easily... and at the same time quiet down the rumors in school... if you're willing to consider it."  
Nabiki looked up at her sister in surprise and disbelief, "Really?"  
Ranma shook his head and sighed.  
Nabiki glanced at him, "You mean she can't?"  
"Erhm... no... no..." Ranma said hastily as Akane whirled to glare at him, "If she says she can do it, she can probably do it..."  
Nabiki looked somewhat suspiciously at Akane, then sighed, "If you think you can, I'd really appreciate it."  
"Well, you'll have to cooperate and do exactly as I say, Nabiki, alright?" Akane smiled thoughtfully, "And we'll have to talk to Kuno-sempai too..."  
Nabiki's eyes narrowed, "Tatewaki? Why do you have to talk to him for?"  
Akane smiled slyly, "He's an important part of the plan..."  
Soun stepped into the dojo beaming happily at the three of them, "Ahh... so good to see my beloved children practicing together."  
A chorus of greeting came from the three.  
"Oh, Nabiki... your fianc is here." Soun said gravely, but the wink and the distinct impression of a leer in his voice ruined the effect.  
Nabiki gave a low growl, her fist clenching.  
Tatewaki peeked nervously around the doorway and caught sight of the simmering Nabiki, then looked at Soun, "Uncle Tendo, I told you not to say that..." he said in a quavering voice.  
Nabiki's face was absolutely furious... and if someone had managed to put a coal in her hand at that point, it would no doubt have been crushed to diamond.  
"I'm here too!" smiled Kodachi cheerfully from the door. Ranma's face immediately brightened up as he moved to the door to meet her, "Hi, Ko-chan."  
"Hi, Ran-chan." Kodachi moved closer smiling happily at him.  
Soun raised an eyebrow, glancing at the happy couple of Ranma and Kodachi... then at the decidedly less than happy couple of the simmering Nabiki and the cowering Tatewaki... well life wasn't perfect, he shrugged. "I'll leave you kids here." Soun said giving the impression of nodding approvingly to Tatewaki, clapping the young man on the shoulder, "Take good care of my little girl, alright? You have my permission to take her out tonight, but bring her home at a decent hour."  
"But..!" Tatewaki began to protest. However it was too late, Soun had already made his way back to the house.  
Akane smirked, catching Tatewaki's arm, and pulling him into the dojo, "Ahh... just the man I was looking for..."  
"I beg your pardon..?" Tatewaki asked half in shock.  
"So you're here to take Nabiki out?" Akane grinned, "It certainly makes things easier all around..."  
Nabiki gave a derisive snort, "I wouldn't go out with him if his life depended on it."  
"Actually it does, Nabiki..." Akane said slowly, "If your admirers catch up to him, he's dead meat."  
Tatewaki managed to continue in a small voice, "Actually, I'm just here to ask Ranma if he saw my glasses when he pulled me out of the pool."  
Ranma on hearing his name called managed to tear himself away from Kodachi for a moment, "Um... pool... what..?"  
"Did you see my spectacles when you rescued me from the pool? You gave me someone else's pair... they must've fallen..." Kuno held up the pair of black hornrims.  
Akane squinted, "Hey... those're mine..." she gave a faint blush, "Oh yes... Ranma did find your glasses, Kuno-sempai..." she shot him a look and he returned a confused glance, but nodded, "He gave them to me for safe keeping," as she pulled Tatewaki's wireframes from her pocket.  
The two traded glasses and put them on, looking much more comfortable as they smiled at each other... "Er... yeah... right... safekeeping." Ranma said after a while. Kodachi shot him a puzzled glance, but he smiled nervously and nodded to her.  
"Well, you got what you came for, now go away, Tatewaki." Nabiki snapped.  
"Wait... wait!" Akane said, standing in the middle of their small gathering, "Hear me out everybody. If everyone will just please cooperate, we will not only be able to get rid of Nabiki's unwelcome suitors, keep Kuno-sempai safe from her admirers, keep our family honor, and still allow the two of you to spend as little time together as you want." She grinned.  
All four stared incredulously at Akane.  
"It's really perfectly simple..." Akane grinned as she outlined her plan.

Chapter 3: The Best Laid Plans.  
Morning in Nerima. The birds were singing, the sky a perfect azure blue, and Nabiki, Ranma and Akane were just about to turn the corner to the school. They'd made a specific point to come early just to make sure everything worked out in time for them to get to class.  
Nabiki looked rather annoyed, "I really, really don't see how this can work... it's not even like he knows how to..."  
"He doesn't really have to know how," Akane replied, "But I'm pretty sure he does. Besides, Ranma was drilling him all of last night to make this look good. Now you just do what I told you to, and everything's going to be just fine," she adjusted her glasses pointedly.  
Nabiki grumbled, "I still say this won't work."  
Ranma merely glanced in the direction of the school gates where the massed ranks of the Nabiki Tendo suitors had gathered, decked out in their full regalia, sports gear and all.  
Nabiki gave a sigh, then roared a battlecry, rushing forward to meet their charge.  
Ranma looked to Akane, "You really think this'll work?"  
"Course it will." Akane grinned, "I mean, you were working with him..."  
"Yeah and he surprised me," Ranma said nodding.  
"Makes sense. I mean he IS the heir to the Kuno School of Anything Goes Martial Arts, so logically he has to be a practitioner, right?" The two jumped easily over the wall to the school, as the gate had been rendered impassable by the unconscious bodies. Nabiki easily cut a swathe through them, throwing people into each other, single strikes to their vitals, flying kicks. Quite a number were tossed a good distance away from the main battlefield.  
Ranma noticed Kodachi in the crowd watching and waved to her. She waved back and gave him a thumbs up signal. Akane noticed it too and grinned. She turned to Ranma, "You stay here, I'm going to circulate a bit."  
"Pick up some bets you mean." Ranma replied.  
"Precisely." Akane winked, giving Ranma a pat on the cheek. She handed him a long brown paper bag, "Now you know what to do with this and make sure no one sees you do it, okay?"  
"Gotcha."  
In fairly short order, Nabiki disposed of her attackers. She stood triumphant among the unconscious boys and breathed heavily, relaxing herself for what was going to happen next.  
There was a sudden blur of motion as something was hurled at Nabiki. She ducked to the side and caught the object with no difficulty... it was a single red rose.  
The crowd of onlookers, some of whom had already drifted away all looked at the rose in Nabiki's hand in surprise... murmurs began rising from the crowd, wondering who had thrown it when a voice suddenly declared, "Nabiki Tendo, I challenge you!"  
There was a shuffling movement in the crowd as it parted to reveal Tatewaki Kuno. Ranma used the crowd's movements to cover up the wadded up brown paper in his hand which he disposed of.  
Kuno's hands were in his pockets and he was looking straight at Nabiki. He flinched unconsciously from the attention the crowd was giving him... more loud mutterings arose as he strode boldly forward. Towards Nabiki.  
He hoped he was giving a good show. His knees were practically shaking and his palms were sweating. This entire plan of Akane's did not bode all to well for him. He was nervous and scared out of his wits. And worse was the way Nabiki was looking at him... but it was odd... like she'd only seen him for the first time today.  
He gave a nervous gulp which he covered up for by standing straighter. He took his glasses off, putting them away safely into the breast pocket of his school uniform and said, "I... um... I am Tatewaki Kuno of the Kuno School of Anything Goes Martial Arts... and I challenge you, Nabiki Tendo."  
"Fine," Nabiki replied, dropping into a ready stance once more.  
Kuno took a deep breath, murmuring to himself, "It's now or never..." and assumed a defensive stance.  
The muttering from the crowd was getting louder... "Kuno does martial arts?", "Two hundred yen on Nabiki.", "Oh no... Nabiki's going to kill him!", "A three hundred yen on Tendo.", "He's a dead man... push him over, this won't last a minute.", "Five hundred yen on Nabiki!", "That wimp? Against... HER? He's dead.", "Let go of me, we have to save Kuno-sempai!", "This is a martial arts thing, they look dead serious.", "I thought he was her fianc already, so what's he trying to prove?", "Better call the infirmary, we'll probably have to haul his poor carcass outta there."  
"Ten thousand yen on Tatewaki." Kodachi said to Akane calmly as she received her claim stub. She smiled, untroubled. That shook people in the near vicinity, a few of whom placed small bets on Kuno themselves.  
Tatewaki and Nabiki stood staring at each other for long seconds, both maintaining their stances easily. Nabiki found herself surprised at Tatewaki. She'd never really looked at him before, and when she did, he looked nothing like this. He had a look of fierce determination on his face, his eyes locked on her, his skin glistening slightly in the sunlight. He was holding his stance perfectly. Low center of balance, no trace of fatigue at all. What she didn't realize was that he had his teeth clenched to keep them from chattering and he was sweating from fear.  
Nabiki surged forward charging recklessly at him, her arms and legs lashing out in a complicated sequence of attacks. She was holding back, not using her full strength in her strikes, so that at worst they would sting rather than knock him out... but it looked very impressive to onlookers.  
To her shock, Kuno did not simply stand and block as she'd assumed he would do, he began to duck and weave, his hands behind his back. She'd seen Uncle Kuno do this to her father before, so she assumed that it was a Kuno school move. Even more surprising was the fact that not a single blow connected. There were gasps of awe from the onlookers as he seemed to effortlessly dodge each of her strikes. Akane looked to her brother and muttered, "You didn't tell me he was THIS good."  
Ranma shrugged weakly while Kodachi smiled smugly, "Well, father did train him. But mom always insisted that he not use it except in real emergencies."  
Tatewaki was beginning to relax into Nabiki's sequence, growing less apprehensive by the moment as he realized he was holding his own. But the gnawing worry returned as he realized that he would have to hit her sooner or later in order for it to look credible... he just... could not do that.  
By this time, a number of the unconscious suitors had regained consciousness, and were watching the fight with surprise... a thought occurred to them that perhaps there was a very good reason why Nabiki was engaged to Kuno.  
Nabiki meanwhile was beginning to grow frustrated. She was observing him carefully and if anything he looked as if he could keep dodging all day. She sent a blow towards his stomach, expecting him to sidestep, so she could follow up with a side kick, but somehow, he grasped hold of her wrist. With a movement almost too fast for her to see, he somehow managed to intertwine his arm with hers, bringing her wrist up and over her shoulder, locking it into place. He held her like that, but without applying any pressure... she understood instinctively that at any moment he could apply enough pressure to pop her shoulder out of joint. She frowned, going over the possible ways to escape such a hold as Kuno shouted, "Yield!"  
Nabiki's face burned with fury and embarrassment. She knew at least half a dozen ways to escape the lock, and was about to throw him off when she caught sight of Akane. Her younger sister gave a small smile and nodded once. Nabiki gave a sigh. "A... alright... I surrender," she said with bad grace.  
This was met with loud gasps of astonishment.  
Tatewaki whispered to her in a low voice, "I'm... r...really sorry about this."  
"Just don't let it go to your head, I can still stomp you into the ground," she growled back softly.  
"Um...certainly," he mumbled, releasing her.  
Nabiki rubbed her arm a little. It didn't hurt, but they had to maintain appearances. She felt low... really low... not only did they just deceive the entire campus... everyone believed that she lost to Tatewaki... Tatewaki of all people... the wimp... she didn't know how she could've allowed Akane to talk her into this... she gave Kuno a disgusted look. She ran before the crowd of onlookers could gather around them... incidentally trampling some of the still stunned former combatants.  
Tatewaki reached an arm out to Nabiki, but before he could chase after her, the crowd had gathered around him, questions being shot rapid fire in his direction. Kuno, unused to such attention was reduced to stammering out uncertain and vague replies. Akane gave a self satisfied look, quietly counting her earnings. She smiled as she pocketed them. Part one was completed. Everything was going smoothly.  
Kodachi and Ranma both noticed Nabiki run off... they traded a glance between them and gave chase. The chimes which signaled the start of school sounded, but was soundly ignored.

Kodachi and Ranma eventually found Nabiki a little before lunch. She was sitting with her back against one of the trees which overlooked the soccer field.  
Nabiki noticed them and smiled weakly, "Hi guys."  
Ranma smiled, "Hey. You okay?"  
Nabiki nodded, "Yeah... sorta. I guess."  
Kodachi smiled, kneeling down next to Nabiki, "Well, you'll be happy to know that your suitors have given up. They talked it over among themselves and decided that they were glad Kuno won. Actually I think they're just scared they'd have to fight him."  
Nabiki gave a snort, "Great..."  
"They'll stop attacking you and won't attack him, wasn't that what we wanted to do in the first place?" Kodachi pressed.  
"It is... it's just... I feel really rotten about throwing the fight like that," Nabiki shrugged, "Feels like I lied to everybody... or like I betrayed myself for not doing my best."  
"Well... if its any consolation, sis," Ranma replied, "Kuno-sempai is at least as good as you are. I'm sure of it."  
"He's strong but he's not that strong..." Nabiki started to say, but Ranma interrupted.  
"I was training with him last night, remember..? He's as fast as I am. In a fair fight it would probably have gone either way."  
Kodachi smiled, "Try not to worry too much about it... if its any consolation, he's just as distressed over this as you are. But everything's going to be fine."  
Nabiki smiled tentatively at them, "Thanks guys..."  
Kodachi leaned closer to Nabiki and whispered, "Besides... if the rest of Akane's plan works, you won't have to marry him... and I get Ranma."  
Nabiki blinked, then glanced over to Ranma who glanced back confused. She giggled, "I don't think you would mind at all, huh?"  
"Nope." Kodachi confirmed.  
"What're you two talking about?!" Ranma demanded.  
Kodachi looked over her shoulder at him and winked playfully, "Nothing..." as she joined Nabiki's giggling.  
Ranma pouted, sitting down next to them.  
As the two girls finally sobered... Nabiki looked off into the distance, her expression thoughtful, "Look... can you guys keep a secret? There's another reason why that fight earlier upset me so much when it was over... I hadn't really thought much about it, but... it just kind of hit me afterwards.  
"What is it?" Kodachi asked sympathetically.  
"There's... there's a guy I like..." Nabiki spoke slowly.  
Kodachi and Ranma both blinked in surprise, "Really?"  
Nabiki nodded, "Well... actually," she blushed, "I have no idea who it is..."  
The pair blinked again, "Wha?  
"He just leaves me these love letters in my locker... and..." she blushed deeply, "You two probably think I'm crazy, don't you?"  
Ranma withheld comment, but his face looked a great deal as if he wanted to say something. Kodachi smiled, "I think that's very romantic... so what kind of guy is he?"  
"Well... from the letters he seems pretty intelligent... he's sweet... romantic... and he's kind of shy, that's why he just leaves the notes in my locker."  
"So you have absolutely no idea what this guy looks like?" Ranma asked slowly.  
"No." Nabiki admitted.  
"Now, now Ranma... looks aren't everything." Kodachi spoke.  
"Yeah, but you don't know anything about this guy..." Ranma said worriedly, "He could be some crazy psycho lunatic or something! Or some kind of stalker!"  
"He's not like that!" Nabiki shot back.  
"How would you know?!" Ranma replied.  
"I know enough okay?" Nabiki shot back, "I know he cares enough to write to me every day... and I know he's in my class, he's said as much in his letters..."  
"So you could probably figure out who it is, right?" Ranma pressed.  
Kodachi looked a bit sternly at Ranma, "Come on, Ran-chan... where's your sense of romance?"  
Nabiki sighed, "I don't know who it is... I don't want to know... it would just ruin the illusion..."  
"Romance is fine, I guess." Ranma mumbled, not wanting to argue, "but that kinds sorta impersonal if you ask me..."  
"Anyway... I was just... worrying... about how he'd take the fight..." Nabiki said after a while.  
Kodachi was silent a moment then said, "Well... if he really likes you, it shouldn't matter to him right?"  
"Yeah, yeah... but Tatewaki's not only supposed to be engaged to me, he's supposed to have beat me too... what if he can't wait for me? What if he gives up?"  
"Who? Kuno-sempai?" Ranma asked, feeling a little left behind.  
"My secret admirer, Ranma. Pay attention." Nabiki said sternly. She sighed and continued, "I wish he knew how much those letters mean to me..."  
Kodachi and Ranma traded glances... "Haven't you ever written back?" Kodachi asked.  
Nabiki's eyes widened, "I... I don't think I can do that! I'm not very good at expressing myself..."  
"Well how is he going to know what you feel if you two don't communicate?" Kodachi asked, exasperated.  
"He's seen me smiling when I read his letters, isn't that enough?" Nabiki asked, half panicked.  
"Alright," Kodachi said slowly, "That's a start..."  
Ranma sighed, "This gets more complicated by the minute.  
Kodachi gave a snort, "This is the sort of situation I'd expect my brother to get into."  
Nabiki sighed, "Let's please not talk about your brother right now, Kodachi? Please?"  
Kodachi's brow furrowed as a thought occurred to her, "Nabiki... could I see one of those letters?"  
Nabiki blushed, "Um... sure... I keep them at home... but I'm sure he'll leave me one later today..."  
Kodachi nodded slowly, "Sure."  
Ranma simply glanced at Kodachi, feeling as he usually did with Akane, that he'd walked into the movie halfway and no one would tell him what had happened.

At lunch, Akane found Tatewaki sitting alone at a cafeteria table, which was surprising considering how crowded the cafeteria was, and at the same time, not surprising because of the events earlier in the day. He was jotting something down into his journal. She was pretty happy everything had worked according to plan so far, now that she'd dropped off the information at the principal's office... sharing a little gossip with the people who worked there, part two would be underway at any moment.  
She slipped quietly into the seat opposite him and said cheerily, "Hi."  
Tatewaki looked up in surprise, snapping the journal shut, "Oh... um... hello, Akane."  
"How're you doing?" she asked.  
"I am fine... your plan seems to have worked thus far... although no one has seen Nabiki all day."  
"She's fine, I saw her, Ranma and your sister talking with her out near the soccer field."  
"That's good... she looked pretty upset this morning."  
"I guess she's just not used to the idea of losing." Akane ventured, "Or looking like she lost."  
"That could be so," he replied.  
"Aside from that, why do you look so worried?"  
"It's... well... I'm just not entirely certain how my mother will take it if she hears about this morning's incident. It made perfect sense earlier, but now that I've had time to think about it, there are a number of consequences which were not taken into consideration."  
Akane pushed her glasses up, "Such as?"  
"My mother is rather vehemently opposed to the violent use of martial arts... and especially towards a man fighting with a woman... er... she may take this news amiss... I'm certain Kodachi would cover for me... but there's father who may be in another of his moods..."  
"I see," Akane nodded, "What's the worst she could do to you?"  
"A reprimand and a grounding I suppose."  
"That doesn't sound so bad..."  
"You've not been reprimanded by my mother," he replied with a sardonic smile.  
"Tatchi!!" the principal's voice bellowed on the speakers, "Will my son please report to my office immediately?"  
Once more the normal buzz of rumor increased.  
"Ahh..." Tatewaki said, rising to his feet, "I believe news of this morning's events have finally reached my father." "I'll come with you," Akane said firmly.  
Tatewaki glanced at Akane then smiled, "Alright. I am certain I could use whatever moral support I can muster. This way."  
The two walked out of the cafeteria. It was a short walk to the principal's office which was also on the ground floor. As they reached the secretary's desk, she nodded to them and waved Tatewaki in, "He's been waiting..." she said.  
Tatewaki took a deep breath to steel himself and opened the door slowly.  
The room was unimpressive enough. A fairly normal one for a distinguished educator and administrator of many years. The only thing setting it apart from the norm was the opulence and style of the furniture.  
The chair at his father's desk was turned away from the door, facing the window.  
"Come in and shut the door." The elder Kuno's voice said gravely.  
Akane took it to mean herself as well and stepped in after Tatewaki... who it must be noted was steeling himself for what was coming.  
"I heard about what you did today, son..." the principal's voice said slowly.  
"Er... yes, father I can explain."  
"Fighting Nabiki? Defeating her in front of the whole student body?" the principal rumbled, "Making her other suitors surrender to you?"  
"Honestly father there's a perfectly rational..." Tatewaki tried to get a word in edgewise.  
The elder Kuno whirled his chair around suddenly to face him. On his face was a huge grin, "A stroke of brilliance my son! I congratulate you! Now there's no one else to oppose your engagement to her!"  
Tatewaki took a step back, "You... you are not angry?"  
"Angry?" the principal asked bemused, "Why should I be? I know perfectly well about her announcement at the start of the term and I couldn't think of a better way for you to cement your claim for her than with that single gesture! Well done!"  
"Ahh... thank you... father..." Tatewaki responded weakly... he thanked his lucky stars that his father was in a jovial mood. For now at least.  
"What I would like to know though is how you came up with such a brilliant plan? Also, I know how skilled you are, son, I have been training you after all... and I know you aren't THAT good... so tell me... did you and she cook this up together? She's in on it too isn't she? You really do want your engagement to her to work don't you?!" he smiled happily, tears starting to fall from his eyes.  
"Erhm... ah... that is..."  
"Oh, my son!" the principal cried happily, leaping over his desk to embrace his son. "You make your father so very proud!"  
Tatewaki could only reply with a vague muffled, "Thang yuu..."  
"And don't worry about your mother, I won't say a thing to her! Ahh... and here I was worrying that you would be too timid... but you've made me so proud! Such a plan! I cannot wait to tell Soun!"  
"Erghk," was the extent of Tatewaki's reply.  
The elder Kuno continued to hug his son for long moments before he blinked and realized something. He turned his head to look at Akane who was smiling sheepishly from the corner, "Er... Akane... how long have you been there?"  
"A while." She replied passively.  
"Er... I see," The elder Kuno spoke.  
"Aheh..." Tatewaki said as his father loosened the death grip hug on him, "It was Akane, actually, father who..."  
"Helped talk Nabiki into going along with the plan." Akane interrupted him.  
"Ahh... well, I am glad Tatchi had your assistance then." The principal nodded solemnly, "Well... erhm..." he said gathering his dignity visibly, "Now back to lunch, children, I'm certain I must've interrupted. I still have work to do..."  
And with that, the principal hustled them out of his office, followed by their being ushered by the secretary into the hall.  
Akane turned to Kuno, smiling slightly, "Let me guess... your father isn't very good at public displays of affection?"  
"He's not very good at public displays of any sort. We are much alike in that sense," Tatewaki replied.  
"I don't know, you did okay earlier."  
"I was under a great deal of strain. I fear for my blood pressure."  
Akane giggled.  
"One thing I am not entirely clear on however, Akane..." Tatewaki said as they walked down the corridor, "Why did you allow my father to believe that it was my plan?"  
"Well that's obvious enough..." Akane smiled warmly at him, "If he thought it was your idea, he'd be under the impression that you and Nabiki want the engagement to work out. So that when we show them later on how incompatible you two are, they won't be able to assign blame. Simple."  
"I suppose." Kuno replied warily, "Nevertheless it sits ill with me to lie to anyone, especially my father." "You didn't say a thing." Akane grinned, "He convinced himself. Making it all the easier. And here I thought I was going to have to talk him into it..."  
"So we are not lying... merely not correcting his misapprehensions?" Kuno said after a moment.  
"Precisely. It's a lot less difficult to get caught in THAT." "You sound as if you've had a great deal of experience in these matters." Kuno ventured.  
"You'd be surprised at what you learn on the road." Akane replied vaguely.  
"Ahh."  
"Say... Kuno-sempai..." Akane said tentatively after a few moments of silence, "Is there any girl you feel strongly for? Aside from Nabiki of course, since you two obviously strongly dislike each other... Someone you like?"  
"Erhm... why do you ask, Akane Tendo?" Kuno asked nervously.  
"Well it would be easier all around for us to do part three of the plan if you haven't got anyone else you're interested in... you know..." she blushed slightly.  
"Oh... well... the way you phrased the question... no. There's no girl in particular." Kuno replied in a level voice.  
Akane sighed in relief, then grinned at him, "That's good, sempai." She glanced around as they stepped out of the building into the populated courtyard. She waited to make certain that people could and would see the two of them.  
Akane lightly kissed her fingertips, then reached up and pressed those fingertips to Tatewaki's lips. She smiled sweetly at him, the playful gleam in her eye back and a slight flush on her cheeks. "I'll see you around then, sempai." She said before dashing off.  
Tatewaki, wide eyed with surprise, couldn't help but notice the attention Akane's act had garnered. Akane was either a very convincing actress... or she genuinely liked him. Well... he leaned more towards the actress hypothesis... she seemed far too practical for it to be the other. He sighed... well, he hoped that part three worked out well... and at the same time... he hoped it wouldn't.  
He picked a private place and sat down, as far away from everyone as possible, then he opened his journal and resumed writing the journal entry which had been interrupted earlier.

Chapter 4: Hints of the past.  
By the end of the school day Ranma had had to leave Akane behind. Actually Akane was busy chatting with her new friends, trading gossip and learning more about the ins and outs of Furinkan. As with any new place there was so much she had to learn, and she wanted to learn it as soon as possible. So it was Kodachi and Ranma flanking Nabiki as she opened her locker... inside, as she expected, was a small neatly folded letter on stationery. Kodachi's mouth quirked slightly as she saw the particular paper... it was one she recognized... "Is that it?" Ranma asked.  
Nabiki nodded, a slight blush and a faint happy smile on her face that she hadn't even realized was there. "He still hasn't forgotten me."  
Kodachi smiled gently at Nabiki, "Would you mind if we see it after you?"  
Nabiki blushed deeply, "I... well... no one else knows about these... except Kasumi..." she frowned slightly, "And if either of you tell anyone else, I'll kill you."  
Ranma gulped and nodded, "Sure, no problem."  
Kodachi gave Ranma an approving nod, "Your secret is safe."  
Nabiki looked around to make certain no one else was nearby, before she unfolded the paper. It read,

My dearest Nabiki,

I witnessed the unfortunate spectacle this morning. I am not dismayed. Only through trickery could he have won, and in my eyes you are still unbowed. This changes nothing of my feelings for you. You are still my sweetest rose, my dearest heart, nothing could change that. I apologize for the brevity of yesterday's note, but with all of the events of the previous day, I found difficulty finding the time and a good locale to set brush to paper, most especially with the sprinklers going on full blast, but I endure despite and still. All my love is yours. All my heart.

Nabiki sighed happily closing her eyes, "Now THAT is a man..." she moaned softly.  
Kodachi read over Nabiki's shoulder, "Wow... this guy really likes you, Nabiki..."  
Ranma winced as he read it, "Girls like this stuff?"  
Kodachi rolled her eyes, "Yes, Ranma..."  
Nabiki nodded to them, "Remember, it's our secret, okay?"  
Kodachi and Ranma nodded. Nabiki gave a satisfied grin, slipping the note into her pocket, "Well, let's pick up Akane and head home Ranma..."  
"Sure thing, sis."  
"Ahh... Nabiki, wait, Ranma promised to walk me home, right, Ranma?" Kodachi smiled at him meaningfully.  
Ranma stared back at Kodachi puzzled. He'd promised no such thing... "But..."  
"Right?" Kodachi asked again with emphasis, her eyes speaking volumes which, unfortunately, Ranma wasn't reading.  
"Er... sure... heh." Ranma smiled sheepishly. He allowed himself to indulge idly in the thought that Kodachi wanted to spend more time with him... he smiled somewhat. Kodachi looked at his smile with confusion... before noticing the intent and yet hesitant look he was giving her, before she blushed.  
Nabiki smiled at the two of them, "Well, it definitely doesn't look like there are going to be any complaints from you two if Tatewaki and I don't go through with the engagement."  
Ranma glanced at Kodachi, their blushes worsening, "Not really," Kodachi replied, "You take care, Nabiki."  
"You too," Nabiki replied, waving to them as they walked off, "Don't take too long, though Ranma, I think Kasumi is cooking sukiyaki tonight."  
Ranma walked quickly to keep up with Kodachi, who currently had her arm intertwined with his. Admittedly this drew some comment from the rumormongers, but not as much as the titillation afforded by the entire Nabiki/Kuno engagement.  
"What?" Ranma finally managed to say once they were out of Nabiki's earshot.  
Kodachi whispered to Ranma, "I think I know who her secret admirer is!"  
"Wha..? How? Who?"  
"I know that stationery... and I recognized the handwriting, not to mention the style... and it's rather obvious if she ever really thought about it, but I guess she didn't. And he's in her class too... it all fits!"  
"Really? Who is it?"  
"I... maybe I shouldn't say. Not until I'm sure." Kodachi said finally.  
"Er... right. So why grab me?"  
"I do want to tell you, but it sounds so ridiculous I want to make sure first," Kodachi glanced up at the clock face, "Oh, I just remembered, I have gymnastics practice in a while!" "Does that mean, I can't walk you home? Should I head after Nabiki?" Ranma asked, a little disappointed.  
She looked torn, "Well..."  
"I can wait for you if you want." Ranma offered.  
"You wouldn't mind?"  
"No prob, honest."  
Kodachi smiled sweetly at him, "Thanks."  
"Anytime," Ranma grinned.  
They walked in silence towards the gym, still holding hands.  
Kodachi suddenly asked, "You know... you never did tell me why you disappeared six years ago."  
"Hmm?" "You know..." Kodachi prodded, "Mom and dad said you and Akane had run off on a training journey by yourselves, but that sounded really strange. I want to hear it from you.  
Ranma sighed, "Well... you do know I'm adopted, right?"  
Kodachi turned to stare at him, "You... you are?"  
Ranma turned to look at her in surprise, "You didn't know? I thought you did."  
"First I've heard of it," Kodachi sniffed, "Didn't think I was important enough to tell it to?"  
"I guess it just never came up." Ranma said weakly, "I mean it's not exactly something you mention right off the bat."  
"I guess..." she conceded, "So you were an orphan?"  
"I don't really know," Ranma said sadly, "The first really clear memory I have is..." he bit his lower lip uncertainly, "This is kinda unpleasant to talk about, maybe I should skip that..."  
Kodachi pressed him, "Come on. You can tell me. We always used to be able to tell each other everything, right?"  
"Okay... well, the first thing I remember really clearly was rooting through the Tendo's garbage."  
Kodachi blinked as Ranma continued, "I think I'd been living on the streets for a while already... and it was one of those things I did to survive."  
"How old were you then?" Kodachi asked sympathetically.  
"Around six or so," he replied, "Anyway... one minute I'm thinking to myself I'd gotten a bonanza cause there was some unfinished sushi in a carton and the next thing I know, there's this girl challenging me for rooting through their garbage."  
"Challenged you?" Kodachi asked incredulously, "Who was it? Nabiki?"  
Ranma chuckled slightly at the memory, "No... it was Akane. She used to have a pretty nasty temper back then... and she'd just finished training with dad... so there I was, leftover sushi in my mouth, and there's Akane in her gi and doing a stance. Dad stepped out after a couple of minutes, and I was sitting on Akane's head, eating the rest of the leftovers."  
Kodachi listened intently, her hand squeezing his gently as they walked.  
"Turns out dad had been watching the whole thing and he was very impressed by my performance," Ranma smiled a little, "He invited me into the dojo for a while... mom cleaned us both up and dad started asking questions."  
Ranma sighed, "Thing was, I couldn't remember anything about my family or anything... Anyway, this was before your dad started training in Anything Goes... so I guess I'm not sure if it was because mom felt sorry for me and wanted a son, or if it was because dad decided I had a lot of potential and could possibly be his heir... but they decided to adopt me. I didn't know what my name was, so Dad kinda decreed that I'd be named in honor of the son of a friend of his who'd died a while back."  
Kodachi nodded quietly, "I didn't realize. You must've had a rough time before finding the Tendo dojo."  
Ranma looked distant for a moment, "I can sorta vaguely recall sleeping in alleys and being hungry all the time..."  
"So what did this have to do with your running away?" she asked gently.  
"A couple of years after mom died, when Akane and I were ten, I sort of started wondering what my parents were like. You know, my biological ones... so I decided to run away and find out who they were."  
Kodachi looked surprised, "Weren't you happy with Mr. Tendo and your sisters?"  
"Oh I was... I was very happy. But I really, really had to know... it's hard to explain what its like... Dad wanted to groom me to be his successor and all, and here I was I wasn't even sure about who I really was, so it's all kinda... you know."  
Kodachi squeezed his hand sympathetically once more moving closer, "It's alright... you don't have to say any more if you don't want to."  
Ranma smiled fondly at Kodachi, "No... I do want you to know. In any case, there's not much more to tell... I was sneaking out of the house when Akane caught me."  
"Oh my..."  
"Yeah," Ranma looked happy at the memory, "She chewed me out about my stupid idea, then decided to come along, since she was sure I wouldn't be able to take care of myself outside... so we went off... and now we're back."  
"Did you find out anything?" Kodachi asked.  
"Nothing. All dead ends. We were all over Japan... most of the major cities... we even followed a lead all the way to China, that didn't work out at all."  
"How did you two afford to go to China?" Kodachi asked.  
"We hitched a ride on a ship," Ranma grinned.  
"Wow."  
"Hey, here's the gym," Ranma said glancing up at the doors.  
"I'll be about an hour..." Kodachi looked at Ranma for a moment, her eyes thoughtful, "Would..." she blushed, "Would you like to watch me practice?"  
Ranma nodded, "Sure."  
Kodachi smiled at him and pulled him into the gym. On the floor, was the rest of the gymnastics team already practicing. The numerous girls, all turned their attention on Ranma who could do nothing but smile sheepishly, and stand behind Kodachi.  
Kodachi turned to Ranma, "Better let my hand go now, Ran-chan... I still need to change into my leotard."  
"A... a leotard?" Ranma asked thoughtfully.  
"Well you don't think I'm going to do gymnastics in a skirt do you? You just sit down and watch." She winked playfully at him, her hand slipping out of his.  
Ranma smiled eagerly and sat down on the floor as she ran off in the direction of the girl's changing room. He glanced towards the other members of the girl's gym team and noticed with some concern that their full attention had been turned on him. And they were all... smiling... and talking to one another. For some reason he couldn't define... This worried him even more than coming home did.

Kodachi hummed happily as she walked around the garden, waiting for dinner. It had been a remarkably lovely day and it was ending fairly well, or so she though.  
Without her realizing it, she'd plucked one of the flowers and was in the process of plucking its petals, complete with matching 'He loves me/loves me not.  
She caught herself doing it, but not before she'd plucked the last petal on an 'He loves me'. She blinked in surprise at her own behavior and was about to step into the house when her stepmother found her.  
"Ko-chan... is that you?" Nodoka asked, stepping out into the garden.  
"Over here, mama." Kodachi called out, guiltily hiding the stem behind her.  
Nodoka smiled gently at Kodachi as she came closer. Despite the weak light, the scattered rose petals were rather hard to miss, "How are you, Ko-chan?"  
"I'm fine, mama." Kodachi smiled back.  
"I heard from Sasuke that a young man walked you home..." Nodoka smiled playfully.  
"Oh... that was just Ranma, mama..." Kodachi blushed.  
Her stepmother laughed, "Just Ranma, you say..?"  
"Um... yes."  
"You two seem to be getting along well..." Nodoka remarked.  
"Oh... well... we're old friends... and we haven't seen each other in so long... so it's only natural we'd want to catch up, right?" Kodachi answered uncomfortably.  
"Nothing more?" Nodoka prodded gently.  
"N... no... of course not..." Kodachi lied, blushing furiously.  
Nodoka looked thoughtful, "Pity... I was going to see if I could persuade your father and Soun to give up on Nabiki and Tatewaki... it only seems to be aggravating the two of them... I do not want either of them getting hurt... and you and Ranma seem to be getting along so well..."  
Kodachi looked at her stepmother in surprise, then replied, "Um... perhaps you shouldn't, mama..."  
"Why not?"  
"Well... I know it may not look like it at all... but I think they like each other..."  
Nodoka looked incredulously at Kodachi, "Honestly?"  
Kodachi nodded in reply, "Yes... I really think so. And if you just give them a little time to realize it, everything will be fine... but unless this thing sort of forces them together, I don't think they're going to work it out."Nodoka smiled, "I see... but if you think that there's any chance for your brother and Nabiki... well, alright."  
Kodachi nodded to her mother, "Mama... I'm curious... why DID Papa keep you from knowing about the engagement?"  
"Oh... that..." Nodoka looked thoughtful and sighed, "Before I married your father... I was married to someone else..."  
Kodachi looked at her stepmother, "You never mentioned that before..."  
"It never really came up before," Nodoka smiled, "Regardless... he was a martial artist too... like your father is now... it's a little difficult to talk about..." she looked off into the distance, a tear evident out of the corner of one eye.  
Kodachi put an arm around her stepmother's shoulders, "It's okay mama... you don't need to tell me..."  
Nodoka smiled weakly at her daughter, "Thank you, Ko-chan... but rest assured, if I'd known about this entire matter beforehand, I never would've allowed your father or Soun to go through with it."  
Kodachi simply nodded quietly and hugged her stepmother.

"I'm home!" Ranma called out as he stepped into the house.  
There was no response. Slightly worried, he wandered a bit, listening for people. It was already past eight and he was worried that perhaps people would be worried about him... it had occured to him a little late that perhaps he should have called, but since it only occurred to him when he'd taken his shoes off at the threshold, the point was somewhat moot.  
He could hear the television in the living room... it sounded a bit like one of those trendy drama things Akane liked. He poked his head around the corner and called out, "Um... I'm home."  
The lights were off and the only illumination was coming from the television which was showing the opening credits to 'Summer Love Contract', one of Akane's favorites.  
Akane glanced over her shoulder at him, "It's about time," she said flatly.  
"Sorry... I kind of lost track of time. Where is everyone else?"  
"Kasumi had a date... father apparently has some sort of local business organization meeting and Nabiki's out back in the dojo, as usual." Akane muttered, turning her attention back to the TV.  
Ranma glanced at her, he jumped over the sofa, landing next to her, "You're upset."  
She glared at him, "Oh, you think so? Where were you?" she snapped the question out.  
"Um... I was with Kodachi..."  
"And you couldn't find a phone?" she said nastily, "I've been worried sick about you!"  
"Come on Akane..." Ranma said in a patient tone, "It's not like when we were on the road... we're home! It's safe here... I know how to take care of myself and I'm not a child, you know."  
Akane hmphed, turning away from him and crossing her arms, "Well if you don't need me anymore, that's fine."  
"Oh come on, you know that's not going to happen..." Ranma said quietly, putting his arms around her.  
Akane relented a little, melting into his arms. She sighed, "Alright... you know I can't stay mad at you for long... but next time, make sure you call alright?"  
"Sure thing." Ranma murmured. Akane grinned a little, snuggling closer against Ranma, "So how are you getting along with Kodachi?"  
"Mmm... not bad..."  
"Meaning you're getting along pretty good, huh?" Akane teased.  
"Okay, we are," Ranma admitted with a small smile.  
A slight cross look passed across Akane's features, "Really... I guess you two MUST be getting along well if you're willing to leave me behind to spend time with her."  
Ranma stiffened, "Erhm... yeah... sorry about that..."  
Akane sniffed lightly, "I guess I'm just your sister after all... nobody important..."  
"Hey... where'd that come from?" Ranma demanded feeling a bit put upon by Akane's mood.  
"Nothing... nothing..." Akane said airily, snuggling a little more against Ranma.  
"You're jealous, aren't you?" Ranma asked quietly, holding her closer.  
"Of course not!" Akane turned in his embrace to glare at him.  
Ranma looked mildly back at her.  
Akane deflated slightly, "Okay... a little."  
"Awww..." Ranma leaned over, kissing her forehead gently, "You know we can't spend all our time together..."  
"Yeah, but... I don't know... it looks like you enjoy being with her more than me," Akane replied weakly.  
"Hey... none of that, Akane-chan!" Ranma smiled playfully, "You know I love being with you... and nobody's going to replace you. Ever."  
Akane smiled a little, "I guess I was being a little stupid," as she wrapped her arms around his neck.  
"Yup, you were." Ranma replied fondly. Akane grinned playfully, "So when you're cuddling up with her, will you be thinking of me?"  
"I dunno... she's kinda better built for cuddling than you are... you're too bony and flat-chested..." Ranma grinned.  
"Bony! Flat-chested!" Akane said in mock outrage, "You don't complain in bed! You take that back or I'm going to show you bony where it really hurts!"  
"Peace! Peace! Okay, I give up! I take it back!" Ranma laughed, making surrendering gestures. Akane gave him a look of mock exasperation, before, ruffling his hair and turning her back to him to watch the TV again.  
Ranma stared blankly into space for a few moments then laughed suddenly.  
"What?" Akane asked, turning around in his arms again.  
"No, it's just that I was remembering something... remember when you were dating Ryouga?"  
Akane looked thoughtful, then her eyes lit up at the memory, "You were acting just as jealous!"  
Ranma laughed, "Almost exactly the same..."  
Akane grinned playfully at him, "Remember what you did to apologize to me afterwards?"  
Ranma lifted an eyebrow as Akane nodded, moving closer against him, "Yes... you do remember, don't you brother-dear? Since I'm the jealous party this time, I guess I'd better apologize."  
"Sounds good to me, Akane-chan..." Ranma replied, licking his lips slightly.  
There was a sudden strangled exclamation.  
The two turned to see Nabiki, silhouetted by the light, "Er... I'll... um... just go on upstairs... you look like you two want some privacy..." she choked.  
Akane grinned at Nabiki playfully, "How long have you been standing there?"  
"Um... not very..."  
"Long enough, though, huh?" Akane chuckled, "Hey... you might want to join Ranma, I'm going to be giving him plenty, there'll be enough left over for you..." Nabiki blurted, "Er... no! No... but thanks... I'll be upstairs... don't mind me..." she added in a mumble, "Um... try not to make too much noise..."  
Ranma looked confused, "Noise..? Why would there be noise..."  
He and Akane only then glanced at their positions, realizing that Akane was all but straddling Ranma's lap and they were holding each other rather closely... Nabiki shuddered a bit and ducked around the corner.  
Ranma looked at Akane, "You know we're totally freaking her out don't you? She probably thinks we're a pair of perverts."  
Akane laughed, "I know I shouldn't, but she's so much fun..."  
Ranma sighed.  
"So what flavor do you want your ice cream?" Akane smiled.  
"Same flavor I gave you when I apologized," Ranma replied.  
"Chocolate marble it is, then." Akane grinned, leaning down to kiss Ranma quickly on the lips before turning to watch the TV, "I'll buy you some tomorrow."  
Ranma smiled as Akane made herself more comfortable on his lap. It took him a moment to realize something... "Hey, I hate soap operas! Why do I have to watch this?!"

Chapter 5: Secrets Best Kept.  
A week had passed since the arrival of Ranma and Akane to Furinkan. Enough time for life to settle down more or less to normal... barring of course the disappearance of the Nabiki Tendo Morning Combat Committee... and the by now familiar, though still unusual sight of the three Tendos and both Kunos eating lunch together.  
The day seemed typical enough. Nothing too untoward had occurred thus far barring a quick downpour, which had sent Akane scurrying for cover. But now it was lunchtime and nothing seemed amiss.  
The five were eating their pack lunches under the shade of a particularly large tree. Akane, who had finished her light lunch quickly, was lying on her back, her head resting in Ranma's lap as she worked out some figures from yesterday's income. Ranma, who was sitting cross-legged did not mind Akane at all, was chatting happily with Kodachi. Occasionally, the two of them would exchange pieces of food from their lunches. Occasionally they would even feed them to one another. They seemed happy enough... except of course for Kodachi's occasional jealous glances at the resting Akane. Particularly when Ranma would absent-mindedly reach down to stroke his sister's hair. Of course, Kodachi was doing her best to keep any indication of THAT show up on her face. Sitting next to Kodachi was Nabiki who was eating her lunch in silence. She stole an occasional glance at her siblings and shuddered... then the particularly sympathetic glances at Kodachi... and the last of her regular glances was at the man next to her, Tatewaki. Tatewaki was trying to give no indication of doing anything more than writing intently in his journal, and occasionally taking a sip of ice water from his thermos. He did his best to ignore the pointedly angry glares from Nabiki directed at him. Sometimes he would even look up to glance back at her, but made it a point to look away before she could catch him. He was even doing his best to ignore the fact that in the last fifteen minutes or so, Akane had laid her legs across his lap... and was making do by using her shins as a writing surface.  
Granted, it was far from an idyllic scene, but it got other people talking.  
Finally, Akane finished tallying up yesterday's gains and losses and was pleased to find a positive count. A pretty good one. It was a start. What surprised her though was how small her gains were for a school this size. By all rights she should've been making twice what she currently was already, but it was almost as if someone were moving to block her activities. It was something she'd have to look into.  
She looked over to Nabiki and Tatewaki, both of whom were giving a very good impression of pointedly ignoring one another, even when they would occasionally look at one another... even to the extent that at one point, the two managed to stare at each other for all of ten seconds before either realized that they'd already been caught looking and only then looked away. She gave a little chuckle.  
Ranma looked down at her, from feeding Kodachi a piece of pickled radish, "What's so funny Akane?" he asked.  
Akane grinned at Nabiki and Tatewaki wiggling her feet slightly in his lap, "These two. You know we're supposed to make everyone think that you two are trying to get along."  
Nabiki grimaced and put her lunch down. She crossed her arms and scowled at Akane, "We are getting along. He's alive isn't he?"  
Tatewaki sighed, closing his journal since Akane's movement made it impossible to write anymore, "She poses an excellent point. I am within three feet of her and she has yet made an attempt to rip my arm off. I personally consider this quite an accomplishment."  
Akane giggled again, pushing her glasses up, "I guess, but you two have been staring at each other for the past half hour already, sooner or later you're going to have to talk to each other."  
"We have not been staring!" Nabiki and Tatewaki shouted simultaneously. They looked at one another and Nabiki glared. Tatewaki simply sighed.  
Kodachi smiled a little, "Well... she does have a point... you guys could at least look like you want to be here."  
"I don't WANT to be next to him," Nabiki snorted.  
"I could think of better ways of spending my lunchtime than being unpleasantly seethed at," Tatewaki replied, "Like perhaps having my teeth pulled out sans anesthesia."  
Nabiki glared angrily at him, "Are you comparing me to a toothache?!"  
Tatewaki scooted back a bit, "I will admit, based on prior observation that you are fully capable of simulating the pain of one."  
"How'd you like some pain?!" Nabiki snarled, rolling a sleeve up, readying to hit him.  
Ranma cried, "Whoa! Hey, cool it guys! Let's play this Akane's way alright? We have to convince everyone that you two are really an item, so when we do the big breakup thing, it won't seem to be anybody's fault... right?"  
Akane continues, "So you two could at least trying to look like you're having fun..." she grinned, "Or maybe even get a little closer to each other."  
Tatewaki and Nabiki both blushed, turning to look at her.  
"I'd sooner die."  
"Such an action would no doubt lead to unpleasant physical injuries."  
Kodachi sighed, "Come on you guys... it's only for a couple of weeks... or months... and Ranma and Akane are right, you both look like you could loosen up a little."  
Akane sat up, smiling at Nabiki and Tatewaki, "You know... a little more affection couldn't hurt."  
Nabiki gave Akane a startled look then blushed remembering the numerous times she'd walked in on her and Ranma.  
Akane continued to grin, "Let's give you an example if you aren't sure what to do..." she turned to Ranma and Kodachi, "Hmmm... Ko-chan... help me out here..."  
"What..?" Kodachi blinked at Akane.  
Akane beckoned Kodachi, who scooted a bit closer, getting nearer to Ranma. "There..." Akane said, "Perfect..." as she scooted to a position behind the pair. She put a hand on Kodachi and Ranma's hips, then roughly shoved them together, until they were practically sitting on one another.  
"Hey!"  
"Akane what're you..?"  
As the two moved to try and regain their balance, Akane caught one of Kodachi's wrists, and positioned it around Ranma's waist, and grasped one of Ranma's wrists and draped his arm around Kodachi's shoulders. Before any other objections could be voiced, she reached over them and made them hold hands.  
Akane grinned, "There... here's a rough example of snuggling. You two could try it sometime."  
Ranma turned around to look at his sister, "Hey, you!"  
Kodachi blinked then blushed, "Oh my..."  
"Uh-uh... no way am I letting him get his hands on me!" Nabiki frowned.  
Tatewaki kept a diplomatic silence.  
Akane scooted back to her old position as Ranma and Kodachi untangled themselves. She shrugged, "Well it's really up to you two... I'm just trying to help out."  
Kodachi and Ranma did their best to get untangled, but as is often the case in such accidents, an elbow sent into one direction without thinking, accidentally upsetting Ranma's bento box, sending it crashing onto Tatewaki's thermos... sending that flipping into the air, to upend its contents on Akane.  
"Oh no!" Ranma cried as he helplessly watched Akane get splashed.  
Everyone else was shocked as Akane suddenly grew in height... the proportions of her body redistributing themselves. The transformation completed itself finally... leaving everyone staring at Akane... who was now a near perfect duplicate of Ranma. There was a long moment of shocked and profound silence as everyone stared at him... their gazes swung as one to Ranma... then to Akane... practically the only way to tell them apart was that Akane was wet and was wearing glasses, while Ranma wasn't.  
Akane sighed heavily, "Oh shoot..."  
"Sorry, sis... er... bro..." Ranma said weakly.  
"It's okay, they would've found out eventually anyway." Akane replied gently.  
"Wha..?!" Nabiki asked.  
The Kunos simply stared... The transformed Akane grinned at them, "Hi... I'm Akaru Tendo... pleased to meet you all."  
Kodachi finally broke the silence, "Now this... I really have to hear about."  
"Likewise," Kuno nodded.  
Akaru smiled at everyone, "Well... I guess it was past time you guys found out..."  
"It all started when Ranma and I went to China to follow up a lead on his parents..."  
"Our trip to this village in inland China turned out to be a bust... and that's a story for another time, but we decided since we were there anyway that we'd engage in a little sightseeing and a little training."  
"What she means is that we didn't have enough money to get home with, so we had to bum around China for a while to get enough cash. That and we had to walk back to the coast," Ranma interjected.  
"Hey, who's telling this? You or me?"  
"Go ahead."  
"Alright... anyway, we eventually ended up at this training ground that they called Jusenkyo, the Legendary Training Ground of Cursed springs. We'd talked to our guide and he told us that the springs were very dangerous, and that we shouldn't even consider training there, because it could mean our lives."  
"Wow," Kodachi murmured.  
"Training Ground of Cursed springs? You two aren't making this up are you?" Nabiki asked incredulously.  
"Nope. It's basically this place, with lots of these shallow pools and there's bamboo sticking up out of the pools for people to balance on," Akane replied.  
Ranma nodded, "So anyway, as we were about to leave, I guess I must've slipped or something..."  
Akaru interrupted, "My idiot brother had managed to snag his foot on a rock and tripped. He hit his head on a stone as he landed and knocked himself out, but that wasn't the worst part. Because he crashed into this wooden paneling which was apparently being used to keep one of the pools covered.  
"So splash, he fell in, out cold and sinking like a rock... I, like an idiot, jump in after him. He must've sunk about six feet before I managed to grab him. For such a little pool it was pretty deep. Anyway, I managed to pull him out, but he'd swallowed some water and wasn't breathing. I gave him some CPR, and I was feeling kind of funny too, but I put it down to the water having been dirty or something..."  
"Well, I managed to wake up," Ranma interrupted, "I was coughing up water and stuff... and then kneeling next to me is this guy who looks just like me, he's in the same outfit and he's soaking wet too..."  
"And this whole time," Akaru added, "The guide is behind us babbling in Mandarin too fast for me to follow. Until I realize that he's telling me to look at myself,"  
"Then the guy suddenly screams, grabbing at his chest. Then he looks down his pants and screams again, louder this time," Ranma said.  
"It was quite a shock let me tell you." Akaru grinned.  
"The water... transformed you into Ranma?" Tatewaki asked slowly.  
Ranma answered, "Well, the guide managed to explain it to us after I'd managed to calm Akaru down... turns out the water in the spring turns anyone who falls into the spring into an exact duplicate of whatever first drowned in the spring."  
"Preposterous," Tatewaki snorted.  
Akaru grinned, gesturing to himself, "I'm living proof right here."  
"But you transformed when you were splashed," Kodachi said.  
"That's what activates a Jusenkyo curse," Akaru replied, "Cold water turns me into a duplicate of Ranma... and hot water will change me back to normal."  
"How odd," Tatewaki said.  
"That still doesn't explain why you turned into Ranma." Nabiki said pointedly. "Well," Akaru continued, "The guide told us later that in a lot of the springs, there had been animals and people who'd died there centuries ago. If I'd fallen into the spring of drowned pig for instance, I'd turn into a pig when I get splashed. But it turns out that Ranma had managed to crash into an unpatterned spring, where nothing had drowned there... until he did."  
Everyone else blinked.  
"So since he drowned in there, it became the Spring of Drowned Ranma, and anyone who falls into the spring takes on the body of Ranma," he smirked.  
"I'm famous," Ranma added sarcastically, "The guide was talking about putting a new sign on that spring."  
Nabiki shook her head, "It's so weird."  
Ranma and Akane shrugged, "We've gotten used to it," Akaru continued, "We tried asking around for a cure, but the guide said there wasn't any."  
"Couldn't you have taken a jump into the..." Tatewaki paused thoughtfully, "Drowned girl spring?"  
"I didn't want to risk it," Akaru answered, "The guide said that sometimes the springs interact funny."  
"What do you mean funny?" Kodachi asked.  
Ranma said seriously, "Well... the guide told us about this one guy who was already cursed then fell into spring of drowned octopus. All that happened was his cursed form got tentacles, and he could squirt ink through his fingers..."  
Kodachi grimaced, "Eww." Nabiki frowned, "How does an octopus drown?"  
"You're asking us? The entire spring thing doesn't make sense to us either," Akaru shrugged, "But either way, last thing I wanted was to end up with a hermaphrodite cursed form... yuck. Better to be a guy."  
Kodachi glanced first at Ranma... then at Akaru, a playful gleam in her eye, "So, Akane... what's it like being a guy?"  
"Call me Akaru when I'm in this form, Kodachi..." Akaru grinned, "And to answer the question, it's really unusual being a guy."  
Even Nabiki caught a whiff of interest at the topic... simultaneously shifting closer towards them while trying to seem uninterested.  
Tatewaki and Ranma caught one another's gaze, "Why do I have a very bad feeling about this line of questioning?" Tatewaki asked Ranma.  
"I know what you mean."  
Akaru stood up grinning, "Okay, I'll tell it to you guys in more detail later, but I need to hunt up some hot water first to change back."  
"I'll go with you," Ranma volunteered, beginning to rise to his feet.  
Akaru tsked at him, "What? And leave Ko-chan? I'll be fine, brother-dear..."  
Both Kodachi and Ranma blushed slightly.  
"I'll just be a second!" Akaru called back to them as he ran off.

"Hey, pal... you Ranma Tendo?"  
Akaru looked over his shoulder to look at four large, rather rough looking men looming over him. He was just outside the cafeteria where a vendo machine had been set up.  
"Maybe..." Akaru said cautiously, waiting for the machine to spit out the tea he had already paid for.  
One of the men, who had a crewcut looked at a photo in his hand, "Yup... that's gotta be him... pigtail, Chinese clothes and all."  
Another man, skinnier than the rest nodded, he seemed to be the spokesman for the group, possibly because he was the only one who seemed to have anything even remotely as high as a room temperature IQ. Even if it was in Celsius.  
"Yer sister is lookin' for you," The skinny man said, as Akaru's purchase clattered into the receptacle.  
Akaru pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and smiled, "My sister is looking for me, you say? Really..." he turned his back on the four momentarily to pick up the warm container.  
"She sez it's an emergency type thing. We'll take youse to her."  
"Sure thing." Akaru said distractedly, peeling off the red 'Guaranteed Fresh' sticker from the can.  
The gang of four was getting worried... how come this guy wasn't gettin' all panicky like the boss said he'd be? The boss said he was gonna be easy to fool... they weren't really lookin forward to beatin' up this guy to bring him along... rumor had it he was pretty tough.  
The skinny man looked pleadingly at Akaru, "Better come quick, its a really big emergency."  
"Well, lead the way then," Akaru said slowly, idly tearing at the red sticker in his hand, and sipping the tea occasionally. The smart thing to do would most certainly have been to ignore them. But curiosity won out, as it usually did.

Ranma looked impatiently at his watch, "Lunch is nearly over! Where is she?!"

Akaru grinned playfully at his captors, "This is a really nice place you guys have here," he said politely.  
"Ya really think so?" asked the crew cut tough, "Awfully nice of you to say."  
Which it quite was, considering that they were in a dingy basement room. The four had blindfolded him on the way there, but judging from how many steps it took, not to mention the brief period of time they were obviously outdoors, Akaru guessed it to be underneath the gym.  
The place looked as if it hadn't been dusted, much less aired in more years than Akaru cared to think of. There was a large desk around which the four toughs were dealing out a hand of poker. On the desk were a couple of large ledgers, the matchsticks that the toughs were using for chips, and the can of undrunk tea which had gotten lukewarm by now. In the corner furthest from the door, and incidentally the dustiest one, Akaru was tied quite securely to a chair.  
"Hey, da boss said not to tell im anythin'!" the skinny tough said, whacking the crewcut fellow on the back of the head.  
"I'm just bein' polite over here, okay?!" Crewcut snapped at Skinny.  
"Hey, you two jawing or you playing cards over here?" a third tough snapped at them both, he was already showing at the tender age of sixteen signs of a receding hairline.  
Akaru smiled confidently to the other two, "Gentlemen, please... there's no need to argue... um... I didn't catch your name..?" he said nodding to the skinny boy.  
"Shin."  
"Yes, Shin, pleased to meet you... I perfectly understand that as a prisoner I'm too keep my peace, but it ill behooves me not to pay a compliment when it's due."  
The skinny boy, Shin grunted.  
"Geez... you've gotta be the politest guy we ever hadda jump on," the fourth tough said looking up from his hand (a busted flush). He seemed unremarkable enough if one discounted the fact that he was at least twice as big as the other three. Combined.  
"Why, thank you," Akaru smiled pleasantly, "Incidentally, I'm curious, are you gentlemen on retainer or does your... ahh... boss hire you on per project basis?"  
"What's a retainer?" the crewcut tough asked.  
"It's what you put on yer teeth to straighten em out," the balding tough sniped, "Now stop talkin to the guy." He tossed two matchsticks into the pot, "I raise."  
"What project is he talkin about?" the huge tough asked.  
"This one you big moron!" Shin replied, "Holding him down here," the skinny tough gave a superior sniff and turned to Akaru, "What makes you think we're getting paid? Maybe we're doin somebody a favor."  
"Just a feeling, Shin-kun..." Akaru smiled back.  
The balding tough whirled on him, "Look you, shut up! We're trying to play a hand here! We ain't even supposed to be talkin to you!"  
Akaru gave an artfully calculated look of hurt surprise, "I was just trying to make conversation to help you boys pass the time. I'm bored too... can't you maybe deal me in on a couple of hands?"  
"Is it gonna shut you up?!" the balding tough asked.  
"Certainly. I wouldn't be bored if I were playing cards, correct?" Akaru replied reasonably.  
"He's gotta good point," crewcut nodded.  
"I dunno about this guys..." Shin said.  
"Hey, the boss said not to tell im anything, he didn't say nuthin about dealing him in on a game of cards." The big tough muttered.  
"Aww... what the heck." The balding tough shrugged as the big tough moved Akaru's chair closer to the table.

"Nabiki! Have you seen Akane?"  
Nabiki turned, shutting her locker and hurriedly tucking away a piece of stationery to look up at the worried face of Ranma. Standing next to him was Kodachi, who looked a trifle breathless.  
"What's wrong with Akane?" Nabiki frowned.  
"She didn't come back to class after lunch. And she was supposed to meet some friends after classes. Nobody's seen her since lunch." Ranma's voice had a certain note of panic to it.  
"We've been looking everywhere," Kodachi said weakly.  
"Well, I haven't seen her, either, I'm afraid." Nabiki replied.  
Ranma frowned slightly, as the students moved around them heading out.  
Kodachi glanced at Akane's locker just across the same hall and tugged at his sleeve, "Hey, look. There's a note on her locker."  
Nabiki shrugged, following the two as they walked over to Akane's locker. Ranma tore the folded post it note from the locker door, sending something clattered to the floor.  
"What is that?" Nabiki asked.  
Kodachi bent down and picked up the object, "It's a nail."  
Ranma frowned and read the note aloud, "What the..? 'To Miss Akane Tendo, I have your brother. He will not be harmed if you come to the auditorium at precisely 4:36 PM, alone. There are certain matters of territory to be discussed.'?" he finished in a disbelieving tone.  
"I heard about stuff like this!" Kodachi said excitedly, "There's supposed to be this guy who secretly runs everything in the school... and the nail is supposed to be his trademark," she held up the nail, "Course my dad says its just a rumor."  
"Whoever it was must've grabbed Akane by mistake, thinking it was me," Ranma said. He glanced over to his own locker and noticed something which had also been stuck on his locker door. He sighed with relief, Kodachi and Nabiki followed his gaze, "What're you looking at?" Nabiki asked.  
He pointed at a red sticker which had been neatly torn into a roughly cloud-like shape, the word 'Fresh--' could still be somewhat made out. "I think Akane managed to put it on there," he said, "And since she had enough time to make it, I'm guessing she's okay, and she's telling me not to worry."  
The other two girls stared at him, "You got that from a sticker?" Nabiki asked pointedly.  
He shrugged, "She did it when we got into trouble before."  
"Well, regardless," Kodachi said, "It's four quarter already... let's head for the auditorium."  
Nabiki frowned and cracked her knuckles, "Yeah! Whoever it is that has our sister, he's going to wish he'd never heard the name Tendo."

"Read em and weep boys." Akaru grinned.  
"Another full house?!" Sho, the balding tough, cried out. "Glad I folded early." Shin snickered.  
"Um... I lose again right?" the crewcut tough, Shiro asked uncertainly.  
"You only had a low pair," the big tough, Shigo replied, gathering the cards up to shuffle the next hand.  
"I don't think I want in on this next one anymore..." Shin said uncertainly.  
Akaru smiled slightly, gathering the large pile of matchsticks and IOU's closer to his end of the table, "So let's see... that puts me at what... five hundred seventeen matchsticks... two hockey sticks, a catcher's mitt, and five manga volumes of Creamy Lemon."  
Sho moaned, "My prized collection!"  
"Guys, guys... please..." Akaru grinned, "Just to show you I'm not a bad guy, I'm willing to let all of the debts slide, what do you say?"  
"Ya mean it?" Shiro asked incredulously.  
"Sure thing, we're all friends here, aren't we?" Akaru asked with a winning smile.  
"I get my hockey sticks back?" Shin smiled happily.  
"Wow!" Shigo rumbled, "The boss woulda never done that!"  
"Yeah, stingy little piece of..." Sho started to say, before he turned and suddenly gave Akaru a couple of hard whacks on the back, "Yer an okay guy!"  
Akaru winced at the blows then smiled thoughtfully. The four looked to be pretty open to suggestion by now... and what he'd been seeing in the ledgers had been very interesting... very interesting indeed.  
"Hey, guys," Akaru said, calling their attention, "Since we're all friends here, I want to make you boys an offer. It could be worth more money than you're making now off of your current boss."  
The four were all ears.  
"Just listen up..." Akaru started to speak.

Kodachi stepped into the auditorium first, despite Ranma and Nabiki's protests. The door slammed shut behind her with a resounding crash, right into the two Tendo's faces.  
Despite the hour, it was dark inside the auditorium, lacking any windows in the dim light, she could vaguely make out a figure standing on the stage, with its back to her. "I'm glad you could make it, Miss Tendo. And so promptly too, that's an admirable trait," an eerily distorted voice floated down to her, "I am the Shadow President of Furinkan High School." It paused for dramatic effect, then its hand was raised in the dim light. A finger snap, and then the sudden hum as one of the spotlights highlighted the figure on the stage.  
It was a very slender male figure, almost skeletally thin, in slacks and an oversized leather jacket. He languidly slipped his outstretched hand back into his jacket pocket, "You were very foolish," the voice continued on, "To even think of challenging my supremacy on my own home ground! There will be no gambling or rumor peddling that goes on in this campus that does not stem from me! Nothing happens in this place without my say so, and if you don't understand that, then I'm very sorry, but your brother will not have long for this Earth."  
"Um..." Kodachi tried to speak, but it was almost impossible to get a word in edgewise.  
"Understand this well, for I am the Shadow President of Furinkan High School," he finally paused, once more obviously for dramatic effect, before he whirled on Kodachi, "I am the mighty Hikaru Gosunkugi!" his movement was matched by a rather loud orchestral fanfare, then taped applause.  
He still had his eyes closed, a smug, arrogant smirk on his hollow cheeked face, "Yes... I know... handsome am I not? If you understand your place in this school's hierarchy, I'm certain perhaps one day you could be my first lady, but of course you're only too honored to--"  
"Ahem!" Kodachi said with a certain tone of finality. Her arms crossed in front of her as she glared at the boy onstage.  
Gosunkugi's eyes snapped open, "Wha..? You're not Akane? Kodachi?! What the hell are you doing here?!"  
Kodachi smirked, "Akane can't make it, she was too busy with something else."  
Gosunkugi gaped, "But..!"  
Kodachi seemed both amused and repulsed at the same time, "So you're the Shadow President of Furinkan High School?"  
"No I'm not!" Gosunkugi denied it cringing back slightly.  
Kodachi crossed her arms, "Didn't you just tell me you were?"  
"Ack... oh, fine then. You found out. Fine. I AM the Shadow President of Furinkan High School!" Gosunkugi said with another superior smirk.  
"Didn't we have you impeached last semester?" Kodachi pointed out, "Because you were cheating at the ballot boxes?"  
"What does that have to do with anything?!" Gosunkugi ranted, his arms flailing, looking to all the world as if he was likely to get lost inside his leather jacket.  
"Last I heard you'd gotten expelled..."  
"I am STILL ruler of Furinkan High School!" Gosunkugi snapped, "Just because you denied me is no reason..."  
Kodachi sighed, "I mean really... isn't this overcompensating a bit... just because I turned you down for a date..."  
"You turned me down twenty three times! Twenty three! If I can't have you, then the rest of this school will bow down on their knees for me!" Gosunkugi was all but drooling.  
"Definitely overcompensating..."  
"I'd intended this to be a welcome for Akane, but since you've annoyed me sufficiently..." he snapped his fingers again. He blinked as nothing happened.  
He screamed, squinting up at the spotlight, "Hey! You on the lights! Don't you know your signals?!" There were long moments of quiet as Kodachi fought to keep from giggling and Gosunkugi kept staring up at the spotlight, vainly straining to see whoever should've been up there. The skinny teen scowled fiercely at Kodachi as if blaming her for this failure, before he scrambled to the side of the stage and threw a switch.  
The spotlight shut off and the rest of the lights surged on. Kodachi was disoriented for a moment by the sudden amount of light, blinding her. When the spots had cleared from her eyes, she realized that in most of the corners of the auditorium were a LOT of boys. She recognized most of them as holdovers from the Nabiki Tendo Morning Combat Committees.  
Gosunkugi threw his head back and laughed maniacally, "Now you will pay! Get her my minions!"  
The men looked at one another uncertainly... then looked at Kodachi.  
Kodachi smiled cheerfully and waved to them in a rather friendly manner.  
They smiled back uncertainly and waved back en masse.  
Gosunkugi sputtered and strode to the edge of the stage. He reached out and grabbed one of the boys by his ear, and tugged on it brutally, dragging the unfortunate over to him, "Excuse me..." he said in a low and dangerous tone, "What do you think you're doing?"  
"Um... boss... you know, you kinda hired us to beat up Akane Tendo... you didn't say nuthin about Kodachi..." the boy, who was in a tracksuit, mumbled.  
A shorter boy in a fencing outfit near them piped up, "She's the principal's daughter, boss. That's kinda like askin for big trouble..."  
"Shut up you morons I don't care! You are going to beat up Kodachi Kuno if I have to--!!"  
It should be noted at this point that throughout this entire scene, there was the rhythmic thumping and shouting coming from behind the door which had slammed shut in Ranma and Nabiki's faces. It should also be noted that in the past few minutes, the thumping had escalated in volume and power. It was at roughly this point that the doors flew open, as Ranma and Nabiki burst into the room.  
"Nobody hurts Kodachi!" Ranma shouted to the room at large.  
Nabiki's eyes narrowed, "So it's you guys!"  
The boys of course recognized the Tendos... they remembered the kinds of beatings Nabiki used to give them on a daily basis. They also remembered that Kodachi and Ranma were some kind of item. They also remembered that the Tendos were all supposed to be kick ass martial artists. There were two, extremely pissed off Tendos at the door. While most of these boys were hardly mental giants, they weren't stupid either. Panic would be too mild a word to use.  
There was a great screaming rout as the boys ran for the hills, or barring that the other exits in the auditorium... Even the boy who's ear Gosunkugi had trapped, was doing his best to simultaneously get away from Gosunkugi, not get trampled and avoid Nabiki all at once.  
"Stop that!" Gosunkugi yelled into his ear.  
"Nuh-uh! Akane Tendo is one thing, that's the other two Tendos, lemme outta here!"  
Gosunkugi stared at Ranma, who, much like his sister Nabiki was giving chase to the panicked, milling mass of escaping athletes.  
"He can't have escaped! I put my best men on it! He can't have!" Gosunkugi cried out. He panted heavily, avoiding the running and screaming boys, "Alright... remain calm... everything will be fine..." as he made his own mad dash for the door behind the stage, spindly arms windmilling inside his jacket.  
Gosunkugi reached the door without incident, Ranma and Nabiki too busy with his minions to worry about him. He smiled easily as he prepared to make good his escape. After all, nothing could capture the Shadow President of Furinkan High School! He laughed easily as he opened the door. Only to find Akane Tendo standing there, smiling sweetly up at him. Behind her were the four toughs he had sent to capture Ranma! What was happening!  
"Hello, Mr. Gosunkugi," Akane spoke briskly, "I believe you were interested in resolving a territorial conflict?"  
"Ahh... er... what..?"  
Akane pressed into Gosunkugi's hand a sheaf of papers, "These are resignation letters from your entire staff, as well as signed affidavits transferring control of your operations over to me. Everything perfectly documented."  
"What?! No! How?!"  
Akane smiled cattily at him, "Well, I simply pointed out to your upper management that you were skimming quite a large percentage off the top and misreporting the funds they'd received. My brother was quite helpful in showing these gentlemen," she glanced back at the four toughs behind her, all of whom dutifully cracked their knuckles, "Just how badly you were cheating them."  
Gosunkugi only managed to say in a small voice, "Oh no."  
Akane smiled sweetly at the four boys, "Gentlemen... please do your duty."  
Shin gave a gleeful cackle, "Sure thing Miss Akane."  
Nabiki and Ranma looked up from what they were doing and looked at one another.  
"Why do I get the feeling something important just happened and nobody told me?" Nabiki asked her brother.  
He shrugged, kicking a guy in a sumo outfit into a guy in a kendo outfit, "Ahh... you get used to it. I feel that way all the time around Akane."  
"Ran-chan, please put me down, I CAN walk you know." Kodachi muttered, cradled in Ranma's arms.  
"Just til we get outta here, Ko-chan," he replied.

Chapter 6: Little Boy Lost.  
About a week later, in a small village on the island of Hokaido.  
"Look out! It's a mad boar on a rampage!"  
"Shoot! Golly! Look out there's some guy on the road! He's gonna get hisself squashed!"  
"Move it yuh darn fool!"  
The boy who was wearing a rather travelworn outfit, turned slowly. He had a somewhat glazed, distracted expression on his face. He was somewhat handsome, the effect ruined somewhat by his somewhat large canines, his shock of hair held back by a spotted bandanna, on his back was what must've been an extremely heavy backpack, lashed to which was an umbrella, but he moved without seeming to notice it. He blinked wearily, finally focusing on the rampaging boar roughly the size of half a volkswagen which was bearing down on him with incredible speed.  
One of the villagers wailed, "He's as good as dead, Ah cain't watch!"  
The boy gave a negligent shrug, a mildly happy grin on his face as he gazed at the boar. This alone, by all rights should've given the beast pause, if it weren't for momentum. He plucked the bamboo umbrella from his backpack with a single fluid motion, lashing it out at the giant boar. A few of the villagers with weaker stomachs immediately averted their gaze, but those who didn't saw something incredible.  
The smiling boy, holding his umbrella out at arms length held the pig off easily. They could see he wasn't even straining as the monstrous boar huffed mightily against the blockage. Its hooves gouging deep furrows into the ground as it fought to move forward. Its tiny, mad little eyes staring at the boy who'd stopped it. The pig found something very disconcerting in the somewhat cheerful look the boy gave it as he continued to hold it off... "Hello, piggy," The boy said mildly, still smiling.  
The boar, somewhere deep in its crazed little porcine mind had a good idea that it was by all rights a big pig. Not just big... he was really big... as in all capitals BIG. The fact that it had just been called... piggy... of all things was obviously NOT a sign of good mental health in the individual calling the big pig... piggy. Its tiny, crazed little eyes gazed into the bright happy eyes of the boy and decided that it had probably met someone even crazier than it was... and with that... it backed off.  
"I don't believe it..." muttered one grizzled, old villager, "Did he just outstare a wild boar?"  
"Bye-bye, piggy!" the boy smiled, waving to the boar as it scurried off, more than a little embarrassed.  
He turned to the villagers, holding up a small map upside down in one hand, "Excuse me... does anyone know where Furinkan High School is?"

Akaru shuffled the papers a bit more on the desk in front of her. Everything seemed to be in order, and the transition of power had gone very smoothly. There were just a few more details that definitely needed to be cleared up.  
Sho poked his head into her office, the dingy little basement room, although she'd had the boys clean up the place a bit since she took over, "Um... boss, Tatewaki Kuno's here to see ya."  
Akaru nodded, "Send him in. Thanks. And could you get me some hot water too?"  
Sho nodded in understanding, "Oh, to wash off the disguise, huh, boss?"  
Akaru smiled and nodded, "Yup."  
"I tell ya, boss. That disguise is pretty amazing." Sho said.  
"Thanks, you can show Tatewaki in now."  
"Sure thing, boss."  
Tatewaki smiled tentatively as the larger tough ushered him into the room. From behind her desk, Akaru smiled pleasantly, "Hello, sempai."  
"I will still have to get used to your looking like that." Tatewaki said ruefully, shaking his head.  
Akaru shrugged, receiving the small kettle of hot water from Sho, who he then dismissed from the room with a wave, "Well, I'm still sort of getting used to it," as she splashed herself with the hot water, her body shrinking slightly, and the contours redistributing.  
Tatewaki watched in amazement. He'd seen the transformation both ways a few times already, but it was always quite a sight to see. He cleared his throat finally, "I can not believe that they think it to be no more than a mere disguise..."  
"People will believe anything." Akane said dismissively.  
"Um... you said you wanted to see me?"  
Akane smiled sweetly at him, "Yes. I've been looking over Gosunkugi's records, and he kept surprisingly good ones..."  
"Ah... that's all quite interesting, but I fail to see--"  
"And I noticed your name on his list of assets... and some interesting marks on his tally sheets..." she continued, still smiling.  
"Oh... ah, you don't say..? I wonder how that could've..."  
"He had you listed under the 'Loveletters solicitation, production and delivery department' as head and only member of the production staff." Akane grinned.  
"That was in his records?"  
"I told you he kept very good ones." Akane grinned.  
"Er... well, yes... I did write love letters on demand for him... if I understand correctly he made a fairly handsome profit off of the freshmen populace--"  
"A profit none of which you got any part of, I also noticed."  
Kuno shifted uncomfortably, "Ahh... well... it was..."  
Akane smiled slightly, "I was looking over his payment records and you were not being recompensed at all for your services, now this tells me a couple of things..."  
"Does it?"  
"Yes. First of all, since Gosunkugi has been very fastidious about keeping these records, it doesn't strike me as likely that he would forget to include how much you were costing him, so it seems likely that you weren't being paid at all. Since he didn't note any alternate means of payment like he did for some people, you were apparently doing it entirely for free, which leads me then to the obvious conclusion that he was blackmailing you for your services," Akane leaned forward smiling cattily at him, "Which in turn leads me to the obvious question... what did Gosunkugi have on you?"  
Kuno leaned back in his seat gulping nervously, "Ahh... erhm, how... how interesting... well... I see you haven't simply been sitting idle then..." he laughed nervously.  
"So... are you going to tell me or not?" Akane continued smiling, "I mean we're practically family and all... even if I am helping you break up reasonably with my sister..."  
"Er..." Kuno blushed, "This is rather a delicate private matter which could result in a great deal of personal embarrassment for me and for certain others... so I'm afraid I would prefer not to divulge the matter for which Gosunkugi was able to impress my services."  
"Ahh... well if that's the case, then I guess I'm going to have to find some other means of persuading you," she grinned, leaning back languidly.  
"Er..."  
Akane lightly ran her hand along the somewhat damp collar of her blouse, "I really would like you to stay on in your former position, but, since I'm not like Gosunkugi, I won't really hold you to it. This is not even mentioning how close," she paused, savoring the word, "Our families are, it seems to me we could probably work out some sort of..." she paused again, smiling almost meaningfully at him, "Arrangement."  
Kuno gulped nervously, "Are you offering what I think you're offering?"  
Akane tossed him a sheaf of papers, "Standard employment contract, with the usual bonuses commensurate with your position..."  
"Ahh..." Kuno cleared his throat, catching the papers, "But... what if I wish to stop writing for you? I mean, this is quite a generous..." as he glanced at the paper he blanched, "Is that a monthly figure?"  
"Weekly. Plus bonuses of course." Akane grinned.  
"I don't know what to say..."  
Akane smiled, "Say yes."  
"Ahh... well, this is certainly more than my allowance... I accept then, I suppose. Provided the work load remains the same as before?"  
"Of course. Wonderful!" she smiled then glanced at her watch, "Say... Tatewaki, could you do me one more favor?"  
Tatewaki relaxed a bit, "Ahh, certainly."  
Akane swiveled her chair a bit, "The arm rests on this are kind of loose, "Would you mind coming over here, and kind of putting some extra weight on them to jam them back into the sockets?"  
"Oh, certainly." Tatewaki nodded, moving around the desk. He rested his hands on the ends of the armrests, leaning forward, over Akane.  
Akane gave another glance at her watch as he stood over her, before she suddenly snaked her arms up to encircle his neck. Kuno glanced down at her as she did this about to ask what she was doing. It was at precisely this point that the door opened.  
Sho poked his head in, "Hey, boss, I'm going off shift. It's Shigo's... er... I'm interrupting aren't I?" he blushed.  
Both Akane and Tatewaki turned to look at him. Their position did seem somewhat compromising, especially when one considered that Tatewaki seemed to be leaning over her, keeping her pinned to the seat, and her own arms were wrapped around his neck. Kuno blushed deeply, but stood frozen. Akane merely looked at Sho with a mild smile, "Please knock next time."  
"Um... yes boss." Mumbled the tough, shuffling backwards, avoiding looking at them directly.  
"And lock the door behind you!" Akane called out to the embarrassed henchman merrily.  
"Akane!" Kuno said, the shutting of the door stirring him out of the shock. He pulled back, "What was that for?"  
She flopped back into her chair, crossing her arms and looking up at him playfully, "Don't get so defensive... it's part of the plan remember?"  
"But I was under the impression that some other woman would be..." Kuno blushed again.  
Akane laughed then patted him lightly on the cheek, "Who else could we trust with this? Besides, who knows, if we get someone else to act the part of the other woman, she might even fall for you for real."  
"I beg your pardon?" Kuno looked disturbed at the thought.  
"Why not? You're good looking, rich, you're a nice guy... maybe you're a little shy, but you're quite a catch."  
Kuno merely blushed and mumbled an uncertain thank you.  
She looked at him closely, unbidden a slight blush was rising in her cheeks as well. She gave him a small, uncertain smile, trying to regain control, "Ah... nevermind, Tatewaki-sempai... you've got a poetry club meeting to attend in ten minutes, you'd better get going."  
"I do? Oh, yes that's right..."

About a week afterwards, at a little used forest road somewhere in the middle of nowhere.  
"So Tokyo is this way?" the bandana clad boy asked the man again uncertainly pointing down the road.  
"No, no, no! It's that way!" The infuriated man replied, pointing in the opposite direction. They'd gone over this at least twelve times already.  
"Alright. That way. Got it." the boy replied cheerfully, heading entirely off the road, right into the dense forest.  
The man merely shook his head and shrugged. There was just no helping some people.  
- - - "Hey, Tatewaki!" Akane called out, waving to him at dismissal time.  
Kuno turned around, smiling diffidently at Akane as she approached him, "Oh, hello, Akane. Can I help you?"  
"Have you seen Ranma?" Akane asked.  
"I believe he, Nabiki and Kodachi were going for some ice cream."  
"And they left without me?" she felt miffed.  
"Well... you were busy with running your... ahem, business."  
She sighed, "Yeah, I guess. Why didn't you come along?"  
"Well... I feel a great deal safer being in Nabiki's presence when you are nearby."  
"Really?" Akane said grinning slightly.  
"Something the matter?" Tatewaki asked, mildly concerned.  
"Not really. Oh! I've got something for you," she said smiling.  
"More requests?" he asked pleasantly. He'd been learning that she was a far better boss than Gosunkugi had ever been. Prettier, certainly. He blinked as the thought crossed his mind and quickly slapped it down.  
She stood in her usual Chinese shirt, bouncing lightly on the balls of her feet, "No... just a little bonus. A kind of thank you for the good work you've been doing these past couple of weeks..." "Ahh... well, that's very nice of you Akane," Kuno stammered a bit embarrassed.  
A few of the sharper-eyed students noticed this little exchange and paid attention.  
She opened her bag and pulled out a small package, tastefully gift-wrapped in simple brown paper. She handed it to him with little ceremony and a bright smile, "Here."

"Excuse me... is this Furinkan High School?"  
The student eyed the bandana clad boy with a small degree of confusion. Very pointedly, he jerked a thumb at the large sign directly in front of the boy, which said in quite large letters, 'FURINKAN HIGH SCHOOL.  
The boy with the bandana smiled broadly, "Great! I finally made it!" he turned again to the student he'd asked earlier and said, "Tell me, where can I find Akane Tendo?"  
"Akane? Well she's usually..."  
"Is this what I think it is?!" a happy voice suddenly cried out from the center courtyard.  
In the brief lull of the noise there was a reply, "It certainly is, a first edition copy of Shakespere's sonnets," in a voice which our bandana clad wanderer knew better than his own... a voice he'd been yearning to hear for oh so very long. Akane's voice... Without wasting another second, he immediately dashed into the courtyard, intent on the source of the voice.

Tatewaki Kuno was hugging Akane and whirling her around with mad, gleeful abandon. He was also laughing quite loudly and didn't seem at all concerned about witnesses.  
Akane laughed with him, clinging to his neck as he spun her around. She knew he'd like her little gift to him but she didn't expect him to be this grateful.  
"It's wonderful, thank you!" Kuno whooped happily as he whirled to a stop. Akane smiled up at him, his arms were still around her waist and her arms were around his neck, "I thought you'd like it."  
"How did you know?" he asked.  
"I have my ways..." she smiled mysteriously.  
It was at this precise point that the bandana clad boy stumbled onto the scene, "Akane! Akane it's..!" he stopped... stunned, "... me."  
He stared intently at the girl... it was definitely Akane. Almost nothing had changed about her... except for one thing. She was in the arms of another man. The perpetually cheerful look which he had worn for years was suddenly wiped away. And he could swear her heard something like a crash and a tinkle... the sound of a heart shattering... he stared at them... utterly devastated.  
Akane and Tatewaki both turned to look at him. Kuno merely stared wondering who this person was. Akane was reeled in surprise, but recovered quickly. She immediately let go of Kuno, breaking free of his arms and ran towards the bandana clad boy, smiling happily, "Ryouga?! Ryouga Hibiki! It is you!"  
But as she got closer the dark cast to his features became more and more obvious. She slowed to a walk and asked softly, "Ryouga?"  
Ryouga gave a sudden roar, pushing past Akane, tears streaming in his eyes as he leapt at Kuno. Tatewaki gave a strangled yelp, leaping out of the way quickly. Ryouga's fist crashed into the cement walkway, a circular area the size of a car shattered into fragments. He snarled incoherently, lashing a fist out in Kuno's direction, but the bespectacled young man had the presence of mind to duck behind Akane.  
"Ryouga! What's wrong with you?!" Akane screamed at him.  
Ryouga rose to his feet, still surrounded by the shattered walkway, tears streaming down his cheeks, "I just spent the past two years looking for you... I followed you for thousands of miles... even all the way to CHINA, only to find out you've gone off with another man, and you have the nerve to ask me what's wrong?!"  
Akane blinked at Ryouga. Then looked over her shoulder at Kuno. She adjusted her glasses, "Oh, Ryouga... this is not what it looks like."  
"Oh yeah?! Well didn't everyone just see you two hugging?!"  
There were affirmative nods from the gathered crowd.  
"Er..." Kuno started to say.  
"Well I guess I don't need an explanation anymore why you didn't meet me for our last date then?" Ryouga said sulkily.  
"Ryouga... I waited three days for you in the living room."  
"Yeah, but when I'd got there on the fourth day you'd already left with your brother!"  
"Ryouga," Akane began patiently, "Why did it take you four days to find the living room of your own house?"  
"What?! You don't think I was wandering around Japan for my health?! I tried to get back as fast as I could!"  
"You were waiting at his house for four days?" Kuno asked Akane.  
She shrugged, "We were living together."  
Murmurs of shock and surprise rippled through the crowd... date... lost... living together... Bad sense of direction... "Hey, are you Akane's boyfriend?" asked one of the freshman girls of Ryouga.  
"I was." He replied flatly.  
More murmurs and rumors spread... "You!" he pointed at Kuno, "What's your name?!"  
Tatewaki was feeling somewhat annoyed at the imperious tone that the boy in the bandana was using on him. He frowned, straightening up to his full height, "I am Tatewaki Kuno and you, vile recreant... boyfriend or no boyfriend have no right to speak to Akane Tendo in so disrespectful a manner!"  
"Enough talk!" Ryouga said unshipping the umbrella from his backpack. He flung it powerfully, snapping it open in midair as it whirled outwards. It flew in a tight arc as Akane grabbed Kuno and shouted, "Down!" missing them by a hairsbreadth.  
The flying umbrella's handle whacked a few students as it flew past them, before it circled around the courtyard, and back into Ryouga's hand. He snarled at Akane, "Akane Tendo, I'm going to destroy your happiness!"  
Akane blinked at Kuno, "Tatewaki... am I happy?"  
"Well, you have been rather chirpy of late." Kuno replied thoughtfully, adjusting his glasses.  
"You're not helping," she frowned at him.  
"Prepare to DIE!!" Ryouga roared as he tore forward at tremendous speed. Akane roughly shoved Kuno aside as she leapt over Ryouga. Most of the other students scrambled to get out of the way of the mad charge, and everyone watched in amazement as he crashed into the cement wall of the school... then crashed all the way THROUGH the wall. They could eventually hear his voice fading in the distance screaming, "Where are you Akane?! There's no use hiding!"  
Everyone could only watch in mingled awe and confusion as his voice faded into the distance, the sounds of him crashing through wall after wall punctuating his cries.  
"That... was your boyfriend?" Tatewaki finally asked Akane.  
"Um... he didn't always used to be so high strung," she replied weakly.

Akane sighed as she relaxed on the porch of the dojo. Ranma walked up behind her, plopping down to sit next to her, "Hey, sis... I heard Ryouga dropped by the school after classes today."  
Akane sighed, "Please... don't remind me."  
Ranma looked surprised, "Why? I thought you'd be happy to see him?"  
"Well, I take it you didn't hear the rest of the story?"  
"What happened? All me and Kodachi hear was that he came to the school..."  
"Well... he caught me... er... being hugged by Tatewaki..."  
"Ohh boy..." Ranma winced, then blinked, "Why was Tatewaki hugging you?"  
Soun poked his head around the corner, "Who was doing what?!" he asked suspiciously.  
Akane looked at her father in surprise, "Ahh... no one, daddy."  
Soun gave a shrug and an indifferent nod and went back to his room.  
"Anyway, he went nuts," Akane continued worriedly, "Did plenty of damage to the school."  
"Who did?" Nabiki asked as she walked in, followed by Kasumi who was putting the plates on the table.  
"Her old boyfriend," Ranma replied.  
Nabiki and Kasumi both stared at Akane, "You have a boyfriend?" they chorused.  
Soun's head poked around the corner again, "Did I hear right? My little girl has a boyfriend?"  
The Tendo siblings all turned to stare at their father a little anxiously.  
He nodded approvingly, "Bring the boy around sometime, I'd like to meet him," he said before disappearing around the corner again.  
"I can't believe dad just said that," Ranma said.  
Kasumi gave a little disapproving glance at Akane and then said primly as she set the table, "Well you're a little young for that aren't you?"  
"So... let's hear about this boyfriend, sis." Nabiki inquired.  
"Well, Ranma and I met him about two years ago, when we were wandering all over Japan looking for his parents." Akane began, "We didn't always have a place to stay so sometimes we... er..."  
"You what?" Nabiki prodded.  
"We challenged dojos," Ranma continued, "And if we won we'd ask them to let us stay there and feed us or else we took their shingle away. We never lost." He added proudly.  
Nabiki blinked, "You two were dojo destroyers?"  
Ranma squirmed uncomfortably, "Well... not in so many words..."  
Akane shrugged and grinned, "Basically. But its not like we ever actually took away anyone's dojo sign. They were always more than happy to house us and feed us to get their shingle back."  
"I still don't see how this relates to your boyfriend, Akane," Kasumi prodded.  
"Well... about two years ago, we challenged the Hibiki dojo..." Akane continued. She blushed and smiled slightly at the memory.  
"Their top student was the school's heir, Ryouga Hibiki," Ranma continued, "Anyway, I beat him and his dad let us stay there for a couple of months."  
Akane meanwhile had been reduced to staring out at the koi pond, with a wistful smile on her face.  
Ranma glanced at her and seeing she was in no condition to continue the story, he shrugged and pressed on, "Well we got to know him pretty good, he was a nice guy, good martial artist. Strong as an ox too... and we ended up sorta buddies. Then one time we're hanging out on his porch and he confesses he's in love with Akane."  
Akane gave a brief sigh. Nabiki stared at Akane. She'd never seen her sister, (at least in the past month that they'd had to get reacquainted with one another) reduced to such a level of... she didn't even know what to call it.  
Ranma rolled his eyes, "Turns out, Akane was listening to the whole thing and the next thing I know the two of them are an item."  
Kasumi held up a hand, a very subtle change in the usually placid expression on her face, "When they were fourteen at the time?"  
Nabiki raised an eyebrow.  
Ranma did some quick mental calculations, "Yeah... yeah... I think so... or about thirteen and three quarters something like that."  
Kasumi smiled vaguely, swooning as she got to her feet, "Excuse me, I feel faint," they heard her murmur as she went into the kitchen.  
"You should've seen em... all sweet and mushy the whole time..." Ranma said.  
"And you were living in the same house with him?" Nabiki asked, "Didn't his parents object or something?"  
Ranma replied, "Well, you see his entire family's got this problem. None of them have a sense of direction. They get lost going to the bathroom. We had to walk Ryouga to school everyday or he'd be lost for weeks. As it was we got to his parents at the house maybe once every other week or so."  
"We had to leave kinda sudden... and they never really had a chance to say good bye," he finished.  
"So now he's found her after all these years..." Nabiki hazarded a smile, "Sorta romantic if you ask me. He sounds like a really sweet guy."  
Akane sighed, turning to face Nabiki, "Oh he is... sweet, kind-hearted, sensitive. Only now I think he's out to kill me and Kuno-sempai."  
Nabiki blinked, "Wait a second... I think I missed something. I thought you said he was your boyfriend?"  
"Uh-huh."  
"So why'd he be trying to kill you? And Tatewaki?"  
"Er..." Akane started uncomfortably, "Well, he caught us hugging. In front of the rest of the school. And he's got a hair trigger temper."  
For some reason she couldn't quite fathom, Nabiki suddenly felt her anger begin to rise. She spoke in a low voice glaring at Akane, "Let me get this straight, Akane... you have a boyfriend who's been looking for you for a couple of years now..."  
Akane nodded noting Nabiki's expression.  
"... and you're sleeping with Ranma..." Nabiki continued.  
Akane nodded again.  
Nabiki leaned forward, "And now you're making moves on Tatewaki?! My fianc ? Haven't you got ANY shame?!"  
Akane' jaw dropped and she felt her own temper begin to rise. She'd never been the focus of Nabiki's anger before, at least not to this extent, and she certainly did NOT appreciate Nabiki's tone of voice, "Look... what Ranma and I do is our business, not yours, even though you keep trying to peek in on us..." Akane smirked in satisfaction as Nabiki gaped and blushed, "As for Tatewaki, for your information HE was hugging ME. Which I might also add is none of your business either, since, if I do recall correctly, you don't even WANT him as your fianc !"  
"Oh, so maybe you do?" Nabiki snapped back, rolling her sleeve up, "Going to two-time this Ryouga person? No wonder he's after you."  
"Oh yeah?!" Akane shot back, rising to her feet.  
"Yeah!" Nabiki replied, likewise getting up.  
Ranma's head whipped back and forth between his sisters, he shushed them desperately, "Hey, guys! Keep it down! You don't want dad finding out about that too soon, he's go nuts... that or start crying... or both..."  
It was a little too late however, as the two had leapt out into the courtyard as the sun dipped below the horizon and began exchanging blows.  
Ranma slumped, watching the two trade punches, kicks, blocks, and dodges. Fortunately they were more or less evenly matched, neither one getting a good shot in. Kasumi finally stepped out of the kitchen and blinked at her two sisters, "Sparring before dinner to build up an appetite," she said cheerfully, still holding the ice pack to her head, "What a wonderful idea!"  
Ranma's mouth quirked as he muttered to himself, "Kodachi'd laugh. Who'd believe my sisters, actually fighting over Tatewaki." Kasumi smiled vacantly at him then went back into the kitchen for some more ice.  
He did his best to suppress a snigger, as he rose to his feet to break it up, he couldn't help but wonder where Ryouga was.

"This is the way to Tokyo right? You're sure?"  
"NO! This way! Stupid idiot!"

Chapter 7: The Bedroom Shuffle.  
It wasn't until a week later that Ryouga was even anywhere within the vicinity of the Nerima district. Or Tokyo for that matter.  
"Hey, Akane, Ranma!" Kodachi called out to them at the courtyard.  
The two Tendo siblings turned at the same time to look at her. Ranma smiled happily and Akane looked curiously.  
"Hi, Ko-chan," Ranma said cheerily.  
She winked at him and smiled back, "Hi, Ran-chan, Hi, Akane. Have you guys got group-mates for that classical lit project we have to submit?"  
Ranma slapped his forehead, "I totally forgot about that!"  
"Me too..." Akane said a little worriedly. She'd immersed herself a little too deeply in the running of Furinkan's dynamic little economy that she'd forgotten about most of her school work. And it was an easy way to forget that she and Nabiki still hadn't spoken to one another since last week.  
Kodachi smiled, "Well, I don't have a group either, the two people the teacher assigned to be my group mates decided they were more than happy to let me do all the work. So you guys want to help me out?"  
"Sounds good," Akane said, "But isn't it due in two days?" she added after a moment.  
"It is? Aww man... we're gonna have to stay up all night for the next two days to finish this!" Ranma did not look at all happy about the prospect.  
"Do you guys want to sleep over at my house tonight?" Kodachi asked, "We can get some of the research done using Tatchi's books... and I'm sure father will allow us to use his computer to type it up with."  
Ranma's face suddenly brightened, "That sounds great!"  
Akane nodded, "Sure. We'll just tell daddy where we'll be staying tonight at the house and pick up some change of clothes..."  
Kodachi clapped her hands, "Great! Come around eight, I'll have Sasuke make dinner for us."  
And as the three departed the school grounds, the bedraggled figure of Ryouga stepped out of the bushes, looking disoriented.  
"This doesn't look like Nagasaki..." he muttered to himself. Overhead the clouds began gathering and a distant rumble seemed to promise rain. Ryouga stared worriedly up into the sky, pulling his umbrella from its straps, just in case.

Akane stretched back luxuriantly in the Kuno family bath. Quite frankly, it wasn't large enough to qualify as a swimming pool, but it would do in a pinch. It was HUGE. The water was heated just right and there was a generous amount of steam all around. It was a great place to be especially on such a cold and miserably rainy night like this one had turned out to be.  
Kodachi smiled at Akane, relaxing a bit and allowing the warm water to ease her tense muscles.  
"Who would've thought they'd assign something as... well... interesting as the Tale of Genji for a report," Kodachi smiled.  
"Mmm-hmm..." Akane said lazily, as distant thunder rolled, "We should be glad its not as dry as some of the other stuff they could've given out."  
"Well, Father has always been of the opinion that learning should be fun for the students," Kodachi replied with a giggle, "So he's made it a point that the readings be of... that nature."  
Akane echoed her giggle, "Yeah. Furinkan's the first school I've ever gone to that included the Pillow Books as a possible resource material."  
"Oh, Mother suggested that," Kodachi smiled, "She's one of those progressive thinker types."  
"An aggressive modern woman, hmmm? I knew there was a reason why I liked your mom so much." "Wasn't that because she always baked you cookies when we used to visit?"  
"That too," Akane agreed.  
After a few long moments, Akane said, "I love this bath."  
Kodachi winked, "Yeah. Anytime you want to drop by and use it, feel free."  
"You mean it?"  
"Sure. And don't forget to bring Ranma with you too," Kodachi added with a slight blush.  
"Oh..." Akane grinned, "Well, I'm not one to stand in the way of true love."  
Kodachi's blush deepened, "Akane..!"  
"Hey, you mind if I ask you a personal question?" Akane said seriously after a moment.  
Kodachi glanced at her, "Not at all. Feel free."  
"How are you and Ranma doing?"  
"Ahh... it's rather... we're okay. I'm not sure I understand the question though..."  
"Well..." Akane spoke, "You two have been dating for... what, a month now? Have you two decided to make it official yet or something?"  
Kodachi replied hesitantly, "Oh. We... well... we never really talk about that... as such..."  
"Oh." Akane nodded.  
"And what about you and Tatewaki..?" Kodachi ventured.  
"Huh? What do you mean?"  
"It is kind of hard to ignore all of the rumors I've been hearing... about al the time you two have been spending together... and how maybe you're thinking of stealing him out from Nabiki."  
Akane tsked, "Vicious unfounded rumors. I'm just... you know... pretending to be interested in him for the plan, remember? To keep our parents happy until they can dissolve the engagement without loss of honor to either side."  
Kodachi lowered herself into the water even more, glancing thoughtfully at Akane, "So you and Nabiki aren't fighting over him?"  
Akane reddened slightly, "Where did you hear that?!"  
"Well... Ranma and I do talk. A lot..."  
Akane muttered, "Can't keep his mouth shut to save his life."  
"Don't blame him, I was sort of curious after I'd heard the various rumors. Not to mention the fact that I haven't seen you two talk this past week..."  
"Course not! I've just been busy." Akane said with a slight bit of defensiveness in her voice.  
"Ahh."  
They spent a few minutes in uncomfortable silence before Kodachi rose to her feet, reaching for one of the towels placed on a high rack, "I'll get going to bed, Akane..." she said.  
"Okay," akane replied, sinking a little lower into the warm water when the door suddenly slid open.  
"I have you now!" cried out a voice triumphantly as a muscular figure burst through the door way. It was Ryouga.  
There was a long, long moment of silence as everyone stared at everyone else. Akane gave Ryouga a slow annoyed glare. Kodachi stared at Ryouga in shock. Ryouga meanwhile was wondering why this Tatewaki Kuno person wasn't in his bedroom and why there was all of this white tile and steam in the area. His eyes for some reason were refusing to focus properly on something pale and pink right in front of him... silhouettes of human figures... female silhouettes.  
Kodachi finally recovered enough of her wits to scream piercingly. In her panic, she dropped the towel she was reaching for and was forced to do her level best to cover herself with her hands. Ryouga's eyes, prompted by the sudden scream finally focused and it occurred to him he was in fact looking at a rather well proportioned view of a naked screaming female. He slammed his eyes shut, "Ahh... er... it's not..! I didn't mean... It was an accident!"  
"Ryouga, get out!" Akane shouted at him.  
He managed to tear his gaze away from Kodachi or where he would be gazing if his eyes were open and looked, or rather turned his ead in Akane's direction. He opened his eyes just a crack to see that Akane was still half hidden by the water, but was starting to rise, "Out!" she shouted even louder.  
"A-a-a-akane! It's not what it looks like! I mean really..! Er..." he glanced around desperately seeking the exit when his eyes happened upon Kodachi's towel. He reached down, averting his gaze, "Erhm... miss, your... um... t-t-to-towel... you should cover..!"  
Kodachi stopped screaming just long enough to gather a new breath for a fresh bout of screaming. He managed to stand up straight, holding the towel out stiffly to her, the corner of the towel touching her hip, which only caused her already piercing screams to go supersonic.  
Ryouga's eyes blinked open at this point as he winced at the screaming, "Hey, quit that... I'm going alrea--"  
It was at this precise point in time that Tatewaki Kuno burst into the bath, a bokken held awkwardly in both hands, "Who goes... You!" he shouted as he saw Ryouga.  
"You not only insult Akane Tendo but also seek to assault my sister with your base lusts?!" he raged at Ryouga, his body tensed and for the most part not noticing the scene except for the fact that in their current positions, Ryouga looked as if he'd just torn the towel off of Kodachi's body. Ryouga whirled on him, "I didn't come here to do that! I came here to destroy you!!" he cried, cracking his knuckles loudly.  
"Then why," Tatewaki asked pointedly, "Are you standing so close to my unclothed sister?!"  
"Whu?" Ryouga turned around and got a good, long, clear look at Kodachi's body... with a spurt of blood out of his nose, Ryouga dropped into a dead faint.  
Tatewaki blinked in surprise as Ryouga fainted. Only then realizing that Akane Tendo was likewise in the bath and was in a similar state of undress... on the other hand she was making no move to cover her nudity, unlike Kodachi who was already grabbing quickly at the towel which was pinned under Ryouga.  
Tatewaki Kuno got a quick glance at first Kodachi... then at Akane... his eyes glazed over... a thin trickle of blood leaked out of his nose... and he keeled over, also unconscious.  
Ranma leapt through the door, "Who was screaming?!" he shouted, worriedly looking around.  
Kodachi who'd barely managed to cover up her front with the towel bit back a scream. "That... um... that was me."  
"But why..?" Ranma started to ask and noticed the unconscious forms of Ryouga and Tatewaki, "Oh."  
He glanced at the two of them, registering that they were in fact naked, but not being unduly affected by it, save for a slight blush on his cheeks. "Hey, you guys better put some clothes on. It's kinda cold outside. I'll bring these two out. I'm gonna want to hear about this."  
Kodachi blinked at Ranma as he levered Ryouga then Tatewaki onto his shoulders, then looked at Akane as he walked out, "He... didn't faint?"  
Akane smiled playfully, "Ranma's used to female bodies."  
"Ah... you don't say." Kodachi said slowly.

Akane knelt next to the sleeping Ryouga, lightly stroking his hair, "You idiot," she muttered. She'd said it in a tone which could only be described as half annoyed and half fond.  
"So this is your boyfriend?" Kodachi said thoughtfully next to her, eyeing the couple.  
"Yeah. It really isn't his fault. He's got a lousy sense of direction," Akane replied weakly.  
"I suppose. Anyone really intent on being a pervert wouldn't have fainted after just one look," Kodachi conceded, "How's Tatchi?"  
"Oh, Ranma tucked him in. He's out like a light."  
"So... um..." Kodachi glanced over her shoulder at the door.  
"Ranma's turned in. He gets worn out easily by too much studying." Akane said with a smile.  
"Do you mind if I sleep in with you guys in the guest bedroom? I mean there's a couple of extra futons in the closet... I don't really like the idea of having to walk all the way back to my room in the dark," Kodachi said apprehensively.  
Akane chuckled, "Well, it's your home. I don't mind," she gave Kodachi a wink, "And I doubt Ranma would either."  
Kodachi nodded, yawning, "That's... good. I'm just glad he didn't wake mom and dad up... I can just imagine them calling the police to haul him away."  
Akane shook her head, "No... I don't think we'd like that to happen."  
"Yah," Kodachi murmured her eyes already beginning to close.  
"Hey, why don't you go catch some sleep?" Akane suggested, "I'm not tired yet, I'll just stay here with Ryouga for a little while in case he wakes up."  
"You sure?"  
"Course. You get some sleep. I'll be fine."  
Kodachi gave a sleepy nod, rising to her feet. "Okay..." she muttered as she stepped out of the door.  
Akane watched Ryouga sleep silently for a few more minutes. Just watching his breathing, continuing to lightly stroke his hair.  
She said softly, "Your sense of timing never was so great either, you great big lumox."  
And with that she leaned down, kissing him tenderly on the lips, her fingers continuing to lightly caress his face.  
"Why couldn't you have caught up with us sooner?" she asked him softly. No answer was forthcoming.

Ranma was having trouble sleeping. He had his eyes shut, definitely... he was doing his best to relax his whole body and was doing a pretty good job of that as well. The futon he was on was relatively comfortable and he even had a couple of nice throw pillows, comforters and sheets.  
Unfortunately, an essential element was missing. He tossed uneasily, shoving the pillows he'd piled on his chest to one side. It just wasn't the same. For one thing it was all nice and cozy but not... warm enough. They also didn't weigh enough... And he was used to having something soft to cuddle up against. The pillows, exceptionally gifted with soft qualifications, were severely lacking in the cuddle department.  
With a sigh, he opened his eyes, glancing around. He knew he and Akane were supposed to be sharing the guest bedroom, but exhaustion, while enough to send him to bed, wasn't enough to get him to sleep. His eyes finally accustomed themselves to the dim half-light and could vaguely make out a female form sleeping easily on the next futon. He smiled inwardly, "Boy Akane must be really exhausted to drop off to sleep so fast... must've been seeing Ryouga..." he said to himself.  
He glanced at the closed door, making certain to himself that no one was likely to burst in on them... after all, he knew their behavior wasn't entirely... acceptable to some people for two teenagers. Especially not for brother and sister. Even if he was adopted. He shrugged, shoving the rest of that debate to the back of his mind as he crawled over to the sleeping figure, crossing a futon laid out between his and hers... and slipped into it. He gave a happy sigh as he snuggled against her, his arm wrapping easily around her waist from behind. He nuzzled her neck lightly, his half-sleeping mind not entirely registering the fact that the girl's hair was loose, and not in the expected braid.  
She squirmed slightly, sleepily in his grasp. Pressing against him with a soft half-dreaming giggle. Her hands intertwining with his.  
It is difficult, if not impossible for someone to sleep with someone else, every night for six years and not be able to identify them by any one of a thousand different means. The shape of the body, the texture of the hair, the way they move, but most importantly, scent. It's a pity Ranma was too exhausted to do any sniffing at right about this point. - - -  
Akane had gotten a little turned around. The Kuno household, large as it was proved to be exceedingly difficult to negotiate in the dark, especially for someone unfamiliar with its outlines. She'd fallen asleep next to Ryouga and she wasn't certain how long she'd been sleeping... she'd stepped out to look for the guest bedroom, intending to curl up with Ranma and had gotten promptly lost. She knew more or less what the door to the guest room looked like... but then again, drowsy as she was it would've been very easy to mistake one door for another... like so.  
She stumbled into a large room... not really paying attention to her surroundings. She blinked blearily and for a moment she thought she was in her own room back at the Tendo Dojo... and there was Ranma on the bed already... lucky stiff. How dare he go to sleep without waiting for her? She gave a contented sigh as she lifted the sheets up and crawled in with him, her arms encircling his neck as she climbed on top of him... she snuggled against him sleepily, handily ignoring the fact as her mind swiftly drifted off to complete sleep, that he was taller than usual.

Ryouga snapped awake with the usual questions going through his mind. First of course was "Where in the world am I now?", which was followed in quick succession by "What am I doing here?", "How did I get here?", and "Is there somewhere else I should be?"  
Of course the first question was, as always never an easy one to answer, especially for a Hibiki. He wasn't sure what time it was, but he could vaguely recall he'd been awakened by the cold. He was pretty sure he was warmer a while ago.  
He sat up and glanced around. It looked like a bedroom... small... dark... kinda expensive furniture. Totally wasn't entirely surprising either. He shrugged. He had a pretty good idea that he was supposed to be looking for Tatewaki Kuno. The man who'd stolen his girlfriend and ruined his life. His face was creased by a frown as he began to wake up fully. Yes. He was here to destroy Kuno. Wherever the heck here was. With a resolute attitude and a stern gaze he got to his feet and started looking for the way out.  
It was an hour later when he finally found the only door. It had been at the foot of the futon. What a silly place to put a door.

Kodachi was sleeping happily. She was having a very nice dream of her and Ranma, snuggling in bed... she knew it was a dream... it was so very warm and cozy. She never had dreams like this before... it was almost... scandalous. She didn't realize her sub-conscious had gotten such... such... bold thoughts about Ranma. This was even more embarrassing than that one dream when she kissed him. On the cheek.  
She felt lips brush against her cheek for a moment and she smiled again in her sleep. She could most definitely get used to this... her eyelids fluttered for a moment as it occurred to her that she COULD feel arms around her... she leaned back again, savoring the warmth of the embrace for a moment when it occurred to her that she was supposed to be dreaming this... but those felt like real arms... With a protesting sigh, she managed to bring herself up all the way to consciousness. Only to find that she was in pretty much the same situation she'd been in in her dream. She turned her face slightly to find Ranma was holding her closely to him. Sound asleep. She blushed immediately in the darkness, eyes wide. She was in total shock... how could she have imagined that he was so... so bold!  
He pulled her a bit closer to himself in his sleep, his face rubbing slightly against hers and she stiffened in panic. This... was too much! He was so close! Too close! It was positively scandalous!  
She squirmed trying to get out of his grip, turning slightly so she could pry his arm off of her. With some difficulty, she managed to lever his arm off... it came up stiffly, pushing him away from her a little as well... but her hand slipped and as his arm came back down on her, his body pivoted onto her also, his lips brushing against hers suddenly.  
Kodachi's blush deepened even more as his lips pressed against hers in that inadvertent kiss. She gasped involuntarily as she felt a bit more of his weight press against her and his lips pressed closer still... she allowed herself to savor it for all of five seconds, almost, but not quite relaxing into the kiss... accidental as it was... before the reflexes her father and mother had ingrained into her suddenly kicked in. Her free arm pulled back without warning, and swung forward with considerable speed, slapping Ranma powerfully on the cheek and sending him flying to the other side of the room.  
He blinked awake at the sharp pain, "Hey! Ow! What did you do THAT for?!"  
Kodachi sat up, primly arranging her sheets to cover her bare legs, she said hesitantly, "Sorry... I... um... you kissed... and I... well... um..."  
"Kissed you?" Ranma asked blearily, "No I didn't..."  
"You were asleep at the time..." Kodachi added, obviously embarrassed and unable to look at him directly.  
"Asleep? What're you... but..?" Ranma blinked.  
"Now, I know we've been getting kind of close these past few weeks again and, yes I do feel very strongly about you... I really like you but... um..."  
"Oh... um... really..?" Ranma blushed.  
Kodachi continued as though she hadn't heard him, "I really... really think we should wait after marriage if you... you know... like me that much... I mean you want to do THAT... and you can wait, right..? I mean we're still young and its stuff... and yes, I do... I well... that is to say want... but not want... you get what I'm saying?"  
"Not a word." Ranma admitted.  
Kodachi's face had gone well beyond a blush... "You know... that... the stuff they taught us in biology... with the... um... you know..." she looked at him suddenly resolved, "Not til we're married and that's final."  
"Are you proposing?!" Ranma asked unbelieving.  
"No! That's not it!"  
"Ahh... then what..?" Ranma groped around mentally, trying to locate Kodachi's train of thought, but the station it'd left from... he blinked in surprise as he glanced around, "Hey... where's Akane?"  
Kodachi looked around, "Not here, I guess..." she breathed a sigh of relief at the change in topic.  
Ranma looked alarmed, "She's not? But I could've sworn..." he looked right at Kodachi, "Erhm... was that what you were talking about?"  
"Akane?" Kodachi asked, baffled.  
"Ahh... no, I mean... was I... you know... um... had my arms... or me, rather... somewhere I wasn't supposed to be..?"  
Kodachi nodded quickly.  
"Ack! I can explain! Honest!" Ranma said quickly, "I was... I... um... dreaming, yeah, that's it..."  
Kodachi's face looked a little disappointed, but she rallied spectacularly, "You mean you didn't crawl into my futon with me to... um... try anything?"  
"No!" Ranma said shocked at the idea... and VERY embarrassed that he'd obviously crawled into the wrong futon... where had Akane gone?  
Kodachi breathed a sigh of... well... let's call it equal parts relief and disappointment, "Oh."  
Ranma mentally ticked off their conversation in his head... "Did you think I was trying to... um... you know..?"  
"Um... kind of... sort of..." Kodachi said, acutely embarrassed.  
Ranma blushed, "Well... I wouldn't do that! I mean... not... if... you know... you... didn't... want..."  
"Well..." Kodachi blushed even deeper as she admitted, "Well... um... I might've... it IS you... and... but..." she took a deep breath, "Not til my wedding night. I want it done properly." She said firmly.  
"Ah." Ranma nodded. He nodded slowly thinking over her precise wording, "So... you... um... considered me for a possible..."  
Kodachi looked away, the blush on her cheeks still burning furiously.  
Ranma looked down, also blushing and very flattered... "Er... um... maybe we should get some more sleep... okay?"  
"Um... yes, right," Kodachi said, laying back and pulling her covers tight around her.  
"Right," Ranma said after a moment, going back to his now cold futon.  
The two of them spent long minutes feigning sleep before Kodachi finally said, "Do... do you want to share the futon? Just... just to sleep," the darkness hiding the fresh blush on her face. She shivered... she never imagined she could be so... improper!  
Ranma looked at her across the room, also shivering in his cold sheets but more from the cold than anything else... the invitation was welcome, certainly... and he'd never be able to sleep otherwise. He smiled shyly and wordlessly in the dark. He slipped under the covers with her. They snuggled for a few moments and before too long, both had drifted off into a deep pleasant slumber.

Tatewaki was driven awake by a combination of two sensations. Sort of. First was the total lack of sensation in his arm from the shoulder down. There is nothing quite so unpleasant as to wake up to find that you'd fallen asleep with your arm pinned... or as pleasant as finding a warm lithe body snuggled up next to your side, which was in fact the body which had fallen asleep on the arm in question.  
He blinked sleepily trying to wake himself up... there was someone sleeping next to him on the bed. Whoever it was (she... definitely a she... he could feel... well, he didn't want to think about that... you know... against his chest) was keeping his arm pinned. He glanced at the face only to find Akane's upturned face looking back. Or she would be looking back if she were awake. She was sleeping quite peacefully, her lips slightly parted. He could only blush.  
She moved a little in her sleep, her arms snaking around his torso as she pressed even closer against him. Unable to get any leverage, Tatewaki found himself on his back, his arm freed, but now Akane was pinning him to the bed with her own body. Not to mention that she had her hands pressed against his back. His face was a mask of panic as he realized her face was now only inches from his, her lips all but touching his face. Her body, definitely touching his body and producing... much to his chagrin... reactions. Definite... rock-solid... reactions.  
He had no idea why she was there and was not in any mental shape to think about it... a majority of his attention was devoted to trying to keep as little of himself from touching her. Especially the parts which were... reacting.  
His arm was in agony as the sensation of pins and needles washed up and down its length... this was just the thing to get his mind off of... his other body parts. With his other hand he tentatively began trying to push her off... which was about as effective as poking at barnacle with a damp noodle. She stayed on top of him. She gave a sleepy moan, shifting herself slightly on top of him. Causing some of her to rub against... here... and there... oh, and most especially THERE. Tatewaki found himself thinking desperately of waterfalls and the Antarctic. And the latest baseball results, only he didn't really follow them so that was little help. A less than entirely successful tactic, but enough to stay relatively sane.  
Akane nuzzled against Tatewaki's neck and it was almost too much to bear... no longer caring about the consequences, because quite frankly, he had to get her off of him NOW. He reached a tentative hand up to shake her by the shoulder. She smiled slightly in her sleep and cuddled closer against him.  
Tatewaki's face was a mask of panic... he had to get her OFF! No, not like that! Off of him! Out of his bed! Out of his room! His face had already gone beyond the blush of mere minutes ago. He had to keep himself... chaste!  
Desperately, Tatewaki put his hands on her shoulders and tried his best to shake her, calling her name softly, "Akane... Akane... Akane..!"  
She gave a soft moan... possibly in protest. But it sounded like a very definite moan.  
Ryouga who had spent the past hour negotiating the Kuno household, and incidentally, entering the same bathroom twelve times in a row. He was already wondering why there were so many bathrooms in this place, and had decided it must be some sort of expensive public bath. So, he boldly opened another door, fully expecting to see nothing more than another bath. It was the precise scene described above which he found himself staring at.  
Akane on top of Kuno, both covered somewhat by the sheets, at least from the waist down... Kuno, calling out Akane's name softly as she rocked on top of him, moaning. Use your imagination. Kuno was too concerned with awakening Akane to notice the door opening... Ryouga was too shocked to do anything unfortunate to Kuno... but his hand closed on the doorknob, crushing it in his grip.  
Ryouga quickly turned away and ran down the hall.  
As the door shut, Akane slowly awoke. "Whu..? Ranma? Oh, Tatewaki? What am I doing here?"  
Tatewaki gulped nervously, "I don't know! Um... would you mind awfully, releasing me?"  
"Oh... sorry." Akane said sheepishly, getting off of him, "I must've gotten the rooms mixed up."  
"Quite..." Tatewaki replied weakly, doing his best not to cringe away from her and simultaneously keep his hands and the sheets covering his... reaction.  
"Um... could you show me how to get to the guest room?" Akane asked tentatively, "I don't want to get lost again."  
"Certainly." Anything to get you out of my room, Tatewaki added to himself, as he levered himself awkwardly out of bed, doing his best to maintain concealment. It was perhaps the longest walk of his life.  
Akane stepped into the dark guest room just as Tatewaki quickly turned on his heel and walked stiffly back to his room. Still doing his best to hide... the as yet obvious reaction. Akane giggled quietly at his retreating back. So cute. She yawned, spotting Ranma near the opposite wall... and his braid... she locked the door behind her, and slid gratefully into the futon. She kissed him on the cheek and murmured, "You'll never guess where I've been."  
Her arm moved around his waist to embrace him. Her sleepiness was suddenly driven away as she realized there was someone ELSE in this futon, besides Ranma.... she looked over his shoulder and found Kodachi snuggled up against him. Akane's jaw dropped. She knew they were getting close, but she didn't realize just how close... she shut her jaw with an audible snap as a small smile ceased her face. One should never waste an opportunity, she told herself as she slipped out of the futon to root through her bag... she was certain she had her camera with her. She never left home without it. She'd just have to risk turning a light on to get a better picture.

Ryouga grit his teeth as he tore down the hall, doing his level best to keep from screaming out his anguish. This bathhouse was so hugely difficult to maneuver in that he still couldn't find the exit. He opened a door to find yet another bathroom. Or so he thought. Actually this made the thirty first time he'd looked into this particular bathroom. He'd been doing his best to keep from just tearing through a wall to get out, but his mounting anger and frustration were getting harder and harder to control.  
He screamed out, "Why?! How could she betray me?!" as he drove his fist into the wall. This has never been a particularly recommended tactic for relieving stress. As in the case of most people, this merely results in corporeal damage to the person involved (ie. you hurt yourself). In Ryouga's case it was the opposite. He usually carried some extra emergency money on his person for accidental damage he caused to things he bumped into.  
His fist rammed hard into the wall, shattering it. And the pipe just behind the thin layer of cement. Ryouga winced and bit back a scream as the cold water sprayed him. He stepped back in surprise, slipping on the now wet floor, and hitting his head rather sharply on the edge of the bathtub. It is fortunate that the Hibiki head is constructed quite solidly against sudden impacts, but it can only take so much... she was out cold.

Kuno finally managed to make it back to his room. He was NOT a happy camper, but at least he'd managed to get himself under control again. As it were. He blinked sleepily at his doorknob, wondering how long it had had that kind of damage... not to mention those looked like finger marks... He shrugged it off and shut his door... he knew he'd definitely have trouble falling asleep again, especially after THAT... so he brought out his journal and started writing.

Chapter 7: Lost girls.  
Morning. The birds were chirping. The sun was shining, people were waking up. Some of them anyway. Ranma awoke feeling, while not entirely terrific, greatly refreshed. He had to admit it had been the best night's sleep he'd had in a long time. He smiled and opened his eyes intending to turn to look at Kodachi. It was only when it hit him that BOTH his arms were pinned down, that he was on his back, and that there was a whole lot more weight pressed against him than normal that he realized that something unexpected had occurred in the night.  
He blinked and glanced down to his right... Kodachi was snuggled happily against his side, her head resting on his shoulder, her hand on his chest. He glanced to his left... there was Akane, she'd more or less entangled her legs with his left leg, her head resting mostly on his chest, and one of her hands had slipped under the bottom of his tanktop and her fingers were resting lightly on his abdomen. He wondered how he was going to untangle himself when he heard a soft voice call through the door, "Kids? Are you up yet? It's time for school."  
It was Auntie Nodoka's voice.  
The knob turned.

Kochou Kuno hummed a merry little tune as he walked down the hall towards the family bath. He'd just finished his morning workout and was quite looking forward to a nice long soak in the tub before he had to go to school. He usually had the car drive him there, and while he often invited the kids to ride with him, his wife had been very firm that they learn to get along just like all the other kids, and hence they walked to school most of the time.  
As he got to the door, he was surprised to find that the door was ajar and that the area of the hall at the door was quite wet. He poked his head into the bath and was even more surprised to find a young girl... sixteen if he was any judge of it, out cold on the floor... she had a pretty nasty bump on the back of her head that he could see quite clearly.  
He knelt down and gently shook her.  
Her eyes snapped open, took one look at the elder Kuno's large, bluff face, screamed piercingly and slapped him right into the wall where the thin trickle of water was still flowing from the cracked pipe and cracked wall.  
It was a very good scream. A loud scream. One that managed to make itself heard all over the house.

Nodoka started in surprise when she heard it. she turned in the direction of the scream, her hand falling away from the door knob. It sounded as if it had come from the bath. She hurried off in that direction, gathering her kimono around her.  
Behind her, in a rush, Ranma, a newly awakened Akane and the still half asleep Kodachi stumbled out of the door. It was a good thing they'd been jarred from their sleep as they had. The distraction kept Kodachi from noticing, much less commenting on the night's sleeping arrangements.  
Ranma and Akane easily managed to outdistance Nodoka despite her lead. Reaching the bath well ahead of the Kunos. They found a rather attractive girl sitting up in a largish puddle of water, a very confused expression on her face. Her hair was a startlingly bright shade of red, held back by a spotted yellow and black bandana. Her eyes were green and were looking around the place, baffled. She was quite petite, but with a surprisingly well endowed figure for her age. It was rather difficult NOT to notice when one considered that her coarse linen tunic was thoroughly soaked, and clinging quite fetchingly against her body. It was also not that difficult to ascertain she wasn't wearing a bra.  
Ranma skidded to a halt, then slipped on the wet floor, skidding off into the bath, right next to the girl, "Agh!"  
She screamed again.  
Akane noticed the water immediately and gave it wide berth. Especially considering the occasional squirts of what must've been cold water from the shattered wall, where the elder Kuno was still more or less plastered to, only half conscious.  
"Hey calm down!" Akane said.  
The girl managed to catch her breath, edging away a bit from the stunned Ranma, "Um... okay..."  
"Who're you?" Akane asked.  
The girl stared at her expectantly, "Um... don't you know?"  
It only took a moment for Kodachi and her mother to catch up. Nodoka took in the entire scene in one long sweeping glance. Then said firmly, "Alright... everyone up and out of the bath. What's going on here?"  
Kochou groaned as he peeled himself off the wall, "I was going to take a bath... then I found her here..."  
"Ow." Ranma grunted as he tried to get to his feet.  
"I tried to wake her up then she slapped me into the wall," Kochou added with a thoughtful sniff as he traced the hole in the wall, "Pretty good backhand at that. Tight swing, no effort wasted, lots of power," he nodded slowly.  
Nodoka sighed, then turned to the girl, "And you dear, how'd you get here? Who are you?"  
"I..." the girl started hesitantly, "I don't know. I just kind of woke up here..." she reached up to hold the back of her head, "My head hurts..."  
Nodoka knelt next to her, unmindful of the water as she gingerly touched her head, "Oh my... that's quite a nasty bump you have there... you must've hit your head on something."  
"Could be amnesia or something..." Akane chimed in.  
Nodoka nodded, "Possibly. Well, we'll just get some ice for you, then dear... and you're soaked! You must've been out in the rain all night. Although how you got into the house..." she shook her head as she helped the girl up.  
"I heard screaming, what's happening..?" Tatewaki asked indistinctly as he finally arrived, large eyebags under his eyes.  
The redheaded girl gave a sudden snarl and pounced at Tatewaki. Only Ranma's sudden grab for her shoulders kept her from him. He staggered back cowering she extended her hands clawing at the air to get at him... she dug in her feet, managing to drag Ranma along with her as she stalked closer.  
"Ack!" Kuno managed to cry out. His parents blinked in surprise at the girl's reaction.  
Akane looked closely at the girl a second time. Her fangs were flashing as she screamed and incoherently ranted in Tatewaki's direction. Akane stepped in front of the girl, blocking her view of Tatewaki and asked clearly, "Your family name wouldn't happen to be Hibiki would it?"  
The girl snapped out of her rage and blinked at Akane as if she were mentally trying the name on for size, "Yeah..." she said slowly, "Yeah, I think that sounds like it... I'm a Hibiki..."  
Akane nodded.  
"How did you know?" Ranma asked.  
Akane shrugged, "Well, it kinda stands to reason she's got the Hibiki family's strength, same teeth, Ryouga always wore a bandanna like that... I wouldn't trust her with a map either, if I'm any judge," she added in an aside to Ranma.  
"She must've wandered in accidentally like Ryouga did." Kodachi said.  
"Who's Ryouga?" Nodoka asked.  
"Er... he was here last night," Kodachi said.  
Tatewaki frowned, "Where is he?"  
"Ryouga..." the girl said slowly... "I think... my name's Ryou... Ryouko?" she said uncertainly, "Ryouko Hibiki. I think that sounds right."  
Kochou glanced at his watch, "We can talk about this over breakfast. Otherwise you kids will be late to school."

"So you've got absolutely no idea who you are or how you ended up in the Kuno bathroom?" Akane asked.  
Ryouko shook her head, "Nope. No idea. Although I think you're right, though. I can sort of vaguely remember some stuff, and about my parents... and someone named Ryouga, so I guess I must be his sister."  
"You must've been with Ryouga when he went into the house the other night," Kodachi said thoughtfully, "Kinda irresponsible if you ask me. Bringing your sister along on a mission of vengeance. Honestly."  
Akane looked over her shoulder at Kodachi and rolled her eyes a bit. Kodachi giggled, "Sorry."  
"Well, I guess Ryouga'll turn up sooner or later," Ranma said.  
"I'm just curious, though," Kodachi asked, "I mean if you were living at the Hibiki's for as long as you did, why didn't you recognize Ryouko?"  
"Well..." Ranma said a little uncomfortably, saying it quietly to Kodachi, "You know their sense of direction. Its sorta possible she was lost the whole time we were staying there."  
Kodachi glanced up the road as they walked, "Well she and Akane seem to be getting along quite well."  
Ranma nodded glancing at Akane and Ryouko walking a little ahead of them, chatting easily. "She still doesn't know why she attacked Tatewaki like that?"  
"She has no idea," Kodachi replied, "Although you should hear some of the theories dad had," she giggled.  
Ranma smiled weakly. He'd heard a few of them. Tatewaki was sulking as they'd left and he'd decided to ride with his father for a change instead of walking with them. Auntie Kuno was quite insistent. He'd looked pretty sleepy too. Probably up all night again, she mentioned.  
There was a brief interval as Ranma dredged through his limited store of small talk, "Um... It was awfully nice of your Auntie and Uncle to offer to let Ryouko stay at your place."  
Kodachi smiled, "Yes. Although I think dad was more impressed by how she walloped him into the wall than by anything else. Did you see the damage? I guess he probably figures she's a natural for the Kuno school."  
"Although its kinda strange how he practically shoved her into our class at school. I mean, she's got amnesia and all, you'd think he'd let her have a day or two to rest."  
"Well, the doctor said there wasn't anything physically wrong with her," Kodachi replied, "She's quite healthy. And... well... father does tend to be a bit enthusiastic when it comes to academics. It was easy enough for him to have her enrolled at Furinkan, he IS the principal after all."  
Ryouko looked over her shoulder during a lull in the conversation with Akane. She smiled warmly at Ranma and gave a small wave. Ranma blinked and waved back sheepishly.  
Kodachi's eyebrow twitched slightly. She felt once more that twinge of jealousy. She'd been feeling it a lot more often nowadays. Practically anytime he was in the near vicinity of another woman she felt it. She glanced over to Ranma and said, "You know... I think she rather likes you," Kodachi ventured.  
Ranma blinked at her, "Hey, where'd that come from? All she did was wave at me!"  
Kodachi nodded and added a little pointedly, "And she was staring at you through most of breakfast."  
"Maybe my face looked familiar! We had photos we left behind at the Hibikis. Besides, she was staring at Akane, too you know," Ranma replied.  
Kodachi humphed and took Ranma's hand in hers, "Well don't you dare encourage her, Ranma."  
"I wasn't! Honest," he said weakly. He sighed, giving Kodachi's hand a slight squeeze, "You'd think you knew me better than that, Ko-chan."  
"Yes, I suppose, Ran-chan." Kodachi said finally, staring at Ryouko's back. She squeezed Ranma's hand a bit more as they continued walking to school. Although she still felt that she didn't quite know him as well as she once had.  
Akane meanwhile kept looking thoughtfully at Ryouko as they talked... there was something odd about her. Something Akane couldn't quite place. - - -  
Tatewaki caught up to Nabiki just as she stepped through the gate. He was resolved. He'd spent the entire night thinking it over and quite frankly, he had to have some peace of mind. He couldn't take it much more.  
"Nabiki-san..." he called out.  
She whirled on him her eyes narrowed and suspicious, "Yeah, what do you want?"  
"Um..." Kuno flinched under her stare, "I need to talk to you. Would it be alright?"  
She thought it over, noting how meekly he held himself. And at the same time she knew perfectly well how fierce he could be when he lost his temper. At least so she'd heard, regarding the Ryouga incident at school. Of course that could've just been for Akane's benefit, and she didn't know why, but that last thought made her feel a little guilty. She sighed and snapped, "Alright. I guess."  
"Excellent," he took a deep breath, preparing to say something when he chanced to glance around. The other early students were watching the two of them rather intently. They never knew. In the continuing soap opera that was Furinkan High School, any time the two of them got together was certain to a ratings sweeper. Or to mix metaphors another way, the rumormongers could certainly smell a fresh brewed story when they saw one, "Not here. Too many people," as he grabbed her by the wrist and led her off behind the gym.  
Nabiki gave a squawk of protest as he dragged her off, but did not resist too much.  
This raised even more eyebrows.  
Nabiki tore her wrist from his grip as they disappeared around the corner, away from prying eyes, "Stop pulling me already!"  
"Sorry," Tatewaki said, "I just rather this stay private. It is something of a delicate matter."  
Nabiki raised an eyebrow, "Delicate matter? Okay, I'll bite. What've you got to say and make it quick, we don't want to be late."  
Tatewaki took a deep breath, "I... I just think perhaps that we should abandon Akane's plan... and simply take the time for both of us to speak to both of our parents. Perhaps they will see reason."  
"Well, I hate to admit it, but for once I agree with you," Nabiki replied glumly.  
Tatewaki heaved a sigh of relief, "Excellent."  
"What brought this on, though? I thought you were enjoying all of that attention she was giving you," Nabiki asked pointedly.  
He gulped adjusting his glasses nervously, "I... that is... well... perhaps I think she may be taking her role as the... erhm... other woman MUCH too seriously."  
"You don't say."  
"The attention is quite, quite flattering, she is certainly an attractive girl..." he continued.  
"Yes..?" Nabiki prodded, her voice low and thoughtful.  
"There's the matter of her old boyfriend who is something of a ruffian. I would like to have words with him at that..." his eyes were hard for a moment, "But... well... also I am not certain how much more of your simmering malevolent disposition I can take!"  
"What did you say to me?!" Nabiki snarled, rushing forward, lifting Kuno up by his lapels. Quite a feat when one considers that she was half a head shorter than he was.  
"Er... ah! What I... that is... what I meant to say was that missed the days when you simply treated me with your quiet disdain for simply being a member of the male half of the human species! Now I have been singled out for your animosity and it is quite frankly wearing my patience to the limits!"  
Nabiki snorted, "So what?!"  
"So what? So what?!" Kuno snarled back, managing to kick his way free of her grip, "Nabiki... it is not my fault that I have been chosen by our parents to be engaged to you! Nor is it my fault that you are so beautiful that men willingly break their bodies against your fists just for a chance to be on a single date with you! If you must hate all men feel free to do so, I certainly am not one to try and impose my will on others, but for goodness sake, I should think I deserve better treatment than to be hated and reviled in their place! If you must hate me at least make certain its for what I've done rather than on general purposes!"  
Nabiki was surprised by the intensity of emotion Tatewaki had put into his statement. He was usually so mild mannered, that this entire discussion took her by surprise. Everything he'd said had kind of made sense... and she did feel a little flattered about that beautiful bit... but she was not going to let anyone... ESPECIALLY not a man get away with shouting at her.  
She poked him in the chest, "So you want me to stop hating you?! Is that it?! You want me to be mad at you for good reasons?! Fine, I've got GREAT reasons for hating you!" she took a powerful swing at him, which he leaned back avoiding easily. This only served to infuriate her even more. So she started chasing after him, fists swinging. With some difficulty he managed to evade all of her strikes, but he was breathing hard. He ducked under another roundhouse and stood up well inside her guard. He poked her hard on the forehead and snapped, "Fine! Name them!"  
"..." Nabiki was taken aback... she'd lost her temper and HAD been going all out against him. And he'd still managed to hit her first. It wasn't much of a hit, but she'd still been tagged! She tried to think of something to say, some fault for which she could hate him for. She couldn't think of a single thing... perhaps for hugging Akane? No, Akane had hugged him at least by all reports... no... it wasn't his fault their parents had engaged them... acting too meek? That always annoyed her about him... no, wait, he certainly wasn't acting meek now... dammit! He'd been more or less a perfect gentleman... she couldn't find a single fault in his behavior! "How dare you be so... so..." she struggled, looking for something to fault in him, "... nice," she finished weakly, slightly deflated.  
"What..?"  
Nabiki sighed, "Fine... right. Okay. I can't think of any reason why I should be mad at you. Other than maybe you dragging me off now and probably starting even more rumors about us."  
"Oh... sorry," Kuno replied. He then said thoughtfully, "They would nevertheless find something to make gossip of us soon enough, regardless of what we do."  
"Yeah," Nabiki said, smiling a little.  
"Alright.... can we now... please, please, please try to get along? For our sakes? I mean hating every man you see all the time surely must wear you down."  
"I guess," she shrugged.  
Tatewaki hazarded a small smile, "Good."  
"Good."  
"Great."  
Nabiki nodded, "Great." The bell rang.  
"Ack! We gotta get to class!" Nabiki cried out, running for the main building.  
Tatewaki's mouth snapped shut and chased after her, "Right you are. Um, say..."  
"What?" she called back as they ran.  
"Would you like to have lunch with me later?"  
"Hey, we usually eat together anyway..." she answered.  
"No, no, no... I meant, just us. Let's see if we CAN get along without our siblings attempting to defuse the situation. I'm certain our parents would appreciate it."  
Nabiki considered this all the way to the door of the main building. She grinned then shrugged, "Okay. But its your funeral if you piss me off."  
He called back, "Understood. Now, up the stairs!"  
"I'll race you!" she called to him.  
"Hey! There's supposed to be no running in the halls!" as he struggled to catch up to her.

Furinkan High School. Lunch. Akane and Ryouko were sitting at the usual tree, eating happily.  
Ryouko shyly accepted the food Akane proffered to her as she said, "So... let me see if I get this straight. You're my brother's girlfriend... right?"  
Akane nodded, "And he's been looking for me for the past two years."  
"Couldn't you have written back to him or something? Or him to you?"  
"I did write back," Akane replied, "Couple of times. I guess he just wasn't home when the mail arrived."  
Ryouko conceded, "Okay... but still two years. And now he's mad at you?"  
"Yeah. Kind of," Akane said slowly, "He caught me and a good friend of mine kinda during an unguarded moment... so I guess it must've looked really bad."  
"Unguarded... moment?" Ryouko twitched slightly.  
"Yeah," Akane sighed, looking wistfully off in the distance, "He was hugging me because I'd given him this book that he'd been wanting for a long time now."  
"It was a present?" Ryouko asked curiously.  
"Not really... more like a working incentive. One of the perks of the job," Akane replied.  
"Job?"  
"Yeah, he works for me, sometimes."  
Ryouko blinked, "What... kind of work?"  
"Oh, just writing love letters and stuff..." she giggled, "Most of the guys in this school couldn't be bothered to write their own, so they retain the services of a professional like him. Through me of course. Plus my nominal cut on the fee." Ryouko just stared at her, "You've got to be kidding."  
"Nope, no joke."  
"Okay, okay... so my... brother... saw you two hugging and got mad?"  
"Yeah," Akane replied, "He's always been the jealous type, but I expect you know that... or not..."  
Ryouko smiled a little embarrassed, "Okay. But there wasn't really anything going on between you and the guy, right? So once Ryouga understands that, everything should be okay?"  
Akane started to nod but caught herself, "Well... yeah... I... um... there isn't anything... I mean he's engaged to my sister and all..."  
"Ah. So Ryouga has nothing to worry about?" Ryouko pressed.  
"Er... yes," Akane said finally. Her gaze had gone distant and thoughtful once more. She squinted a bit through her glasses as she noticed two people approaching the tree, "Hey, it's the two lovebirds."  
"Lovebirds?" Ryouko glanced in that direction.  
"Yeah, my brother and Kodachi," Akane smiled.  
As the two approached closer, they waved to the two at the tree. Ranma and Kodachi were holding hands, smiling happily. As they neared, there was a sudden rustling from the outer edges of the tree as a rather large student popped his head out of the foliage, "Whassa passwoid?"  
Ranma and Kodachi both took a step back, startled, "Sho! I don't need a password to sit down with my own sister!"  
"Miz Akane does not wish to be distoibed," the dangling thug rumbled at Ranma.  
Kodachi and Ryouko both stared at the other student. Ranma was glaring at Sho and starting to roll up his sleeve.  
Akane rolled her eyes, "Hey, Sho, let them through. When I tell you I don't want to be disturbed that doesn't include my brother or the Kunos, alright?  
"Sorry ma'am," the embarassed thug smiled sheepishly rubbing the back of his head, "I'll go tell da boys..."  
Akane nodded.  
Sho suddenly roared, "Youse heard da boss you big dumb lugs! You let her bruther and da Kunos thru widout da passwoid!"  
Other parts of the trees foliage swayed in response, "Got it!"  
"Sure thing, boss!"  
"What wuz da passwoid?"  
"Huh? I thought you knew what da passwoid was!"  
"We don't know the passwoid?!" Sho roared at the rest of the tree.  
Akane sighed and hung her head, "It's so hard to find good help these days."  
"Escuse us a minute boss while we um... conference," Sho called down to Akane before his head slipped back into the cover of the tree and there was a continued muted rustling as an argument regarding what the password was precisely filtered its way quietly down through the tree.  
Kodachi glanced up into the tree and murmured, "Well... you've certainly got... security."  
"I don't know how secure I'd feel with those guys hanging around all the time, though," Ranma replied, glancing up as the out of sight argument got more and more heated.  
Akane shrugged, "Actually, I'd rather they didn't do it, but they start moping if I don't give them something to do. And they like guarding me," she grinned mischievously.  
Ryouko waved shyly to Kodachi and Ranma. They both waved back, although Kodachi regarded her a little coolly.  
Akane noticed the slight undercurrents and spoke to help diffuse the situation, "You guys eaten yet? Ryouko and I are nearly done, but we can hang out with you guys for a while.  
Ranma sat down next to Akane at the tree, leaning his back against it, "Nah, we've eaten. But we saw something really, really weird just a while ago, that we figured we should tell you about."  
Kodachi nodded as she took her usual place next to Ranma, "Very strange."  
Akane pushed her glasses up her nose a little and smiled, "Really? What was it?"  
"Tatewaki and Nabiki are having lunch in the cafeteria," Kodachi said.  
"What's so weird about that?"  
"They're at the same table," Ranma said quietly, "And they look like they're actually enjoying themselves."  
Akane blinked, "You're kidding."  
"No joke," Ranma and Kodachi said together.  
Akane suddenly looked up into the sky, scanning it beyond the foliage of the tree.  
"What're you doing?" Ranma asked her pointedly.  
"I'm looking for the four horsemen..." Akane muttered vaguely, "The end of the world must be at hand.  
Ryouko blinked worriedly as Ranma hit Akane's arm, "Quit joking like that. I just thought you might want to hear about it."  
"This I HAVE to see for myself. Let's go, Ryouko!" as Akane surged to her feet. There was an odd expression on her face, and much as it would've pained her to admit it... there was a certain tiny bit of jealousy in her eyes as she moved.  
"But we haven't finished lunch yet!" Ryouko said mildly.  
"Worry about that later! This is a news event!" as she rushed to the cafeteria, dragging Ryouko with her.  
After much more rustlings from the tree, four heavy set students dropped out of it like overripe fruit and gave chase to their boss.  
Kodachi snuggled up to Ranma as the last of Akane's goon squad gave chase, "Alone at last."  
Ranma chuckled, "Almost like it'd been planned or something."  
"Or something." Kodachi agreed.

Akane sat glumly at the Tendo porch, watching the koi pond. Her expression was distracted and quite frankly, she wasn't feeling particularly chipper.  
Ranma rounded the corner and smiled at her before he plopped down at the spot next to her, "Hey, sis. What's that matter?"  
"Nothing."  
"Don't give me that, Akane."  
Akane sighed, sinking a little lower as she rested her chin on her forearms, "I don't know... I just feel kind of... weird about seeing Tatewaki-sempai and Nabiki together."  
Ranma raised an eyebrow, "I'd've thought you'd be happy. I mean if they start getting along this means we won't have to go through with your cunning scheme to convince dad and Uncle Kuno to cancel the wedding."  
"That's not the point, Ranma," Akane replied with a sigh.  
He rested his chin on one hand and leaned against the table, "So what is the point? I don't usually see you moping around like this."  
"I'm not sure... I think... I think I feel jealous," Akane said tentatively.  
Ranma blinked, his hand slipped out from under his chin as his face fell onto the table, "You're what?! You mean you really do like Tatewaki?!"  
"Maybe... I don't know... I think... something..." "But what about Ryouga?"  
"Nah... it's just... I really don't know. Seeing Tatewaki-sempai with Nabiki... and... I mean, I've been thinking about that... and well... there's Ryouga who's never around... but says he still loves me... and... it's really confusing..."  
Ranma put a sympathetic arm around Akane, "Hey... there, there... relax, it can't be that bad."  
Akane continued on, not having noticed what Ranma said, still staring in the distance, "On the one hand, there's Ryouga... sure he's lost all the time and he's got a nasty temper, but he's so nice, so sweet, so romantic, a great athlete... buff as hell... and the tightest buns I've ever see..."  
Ranma coughed.  
"Except for yours of course, bro." Akane added with a wry smile. She sighed and continued, "On the other hand there's Tatewaki, who's very intelligent, articulate, well read, very sweet even if he is a little reserved and shy... not to mention he's from a good family, and ridiculously rich."  
Ranma mumbled to himself, "I knew that'd come in somewhere..."  
Akane sighed again, trying to sink even lower into the table. She suddenly clenched both fists and hopped to her feet, "Whichever shall I choose!?!"  
Ranma blinked at her, "Hey, calm down, sis it's not exactly like you've got a--"  
Nabiki walked in with a wry expression on her face, a slight frown creased her features as she looked at Akane, "Choose what, Akane?" she asked.  
Akane whirled on her, her own face moving into a frown, "Oh. Hi, Nabiki. Finally speaking to me?"  
Nabiki shrugged, "Well, it seemed kind of ridiculous for us to not talk over HIM of all people."  
"You don't say," Akane snapped before she could stop herself, "This have anything to do with your having lunch with Tatewaki?"  
"Not really... I mean..." Nabiki seemed a little puzzled by Akane's reaction, but her own annoyance was beginning to flare slightly as well, "What's with the third degree?"  
"Did you have a nice time with him?" Akane prodded.  
"Actually yes, he's actually pretty good company." Nabiki replied, frowning at Akane now.  
"How nice. I could've told you that."  
"What's THAT supposed to mean?!" Nabiki's voice rose.  
"Nothing. Nothing at all."  
"Oh, really?"  
"Yes, really."  
Ranma noticing that the conversation was reaching critical mass had learned his lesson from the last time and quietly slunk away.  
He headed out, shaking his head in disbelief. He never thought he'd see the day. Akane hadn't lost her temper like that in a long time... she was usually so in control of herself. More often than not she'd just content herself with getting revenge some other way at a more opportune moment. Course, she could probably still be sore at Nabiki from before. That could've been it. So wrapped up was Ranma in his own thoughts that he hardly noticed Tatewaki standing just inside the front door. Until he'd bumped into him.  
"Ack!"  
"Ow!"  
"Oh, Tatewaki-sempai... I didn't notice you."  
"It's alright, Ranma... I... um... I was just walking Nabiki home and she insisted on getting me something to drink before I left." Tatewaki replied a little hesitantly. He blinked curiously, trying to see around Ranma, "Is anything amiss? I can hear people arguing..."  
"Oh, that," Ranma replied glancing over his shoulder, "Um... that's nothing, just Akane and Nabiki having a kinda heated discussion... why don't you stay here, and I'll go get that drink for you?"  
"Oh... only if it's no trouble..." Kuno averred.  
"No trouble... honest..." as he turned to head for the kitchen... he was mentally working out how he was going to get the two of them to keep quiet. It wasn't seemly to have people arguing when there was a guest in the house.  
Just before he could round the corner though, Nabiki's voice suddenly rose loudly enough to be heard clearly. Quite possibly all the way to the next neighborhood, "I am NOT in love with Tatewaki and I am NOT interested in him in that way! I'm already in love with someone else!!!"  
Ranma skidded to a halt. Whoo-boy, Akane must've pushed the right buttons, he mused. No way Nabiki would've admitted to that unless she were really pissed. He heard an odd half strangled sound behind him and he turned to look.  
Tatewaki had fallen to his knees. His eyes behind his glasses were glazed and staring.  
Ranma moved next to him quickly, "Hey, Tatewaki... Tatewaki, you okay, man? Speak to me."  
"She's... in love with someone... else?" Tatewaki managed to force the words out slowly.  
"Er... well... yeah... kinda..."  
Kuno blinked at Ranma, "You knew of this?"  
"Er... sorta. She told me to keep it a secret..."  
Kuno continued to stare blankly for long moments as the distant argument began to taper off to silence.  
"I... " he spoke slowly and deliberately, "... see." His flat, dead tone indicated a passion Ranma had never seen in Tatewaki before. His fists were clenched and his eyes still glazed.  
"Dude... stop that you're scaring me..." Ranma said slowly.  
Kuno looked up at Ranma and said quickly, in a more or less normal voice, "I'm terribly sorry for the inconvenience, Ranma-kun. I really must be on my way. Kindly convey my apologies to Nabiki that I could not wait," and with that, he hopped quickly to his feet and dashed for the door. Ranma could almost swear he heard Kuno muttering under his breath.  
"What was that all about?" Ranma muttered.

Ranma yawned sleepily as he waited for Nabiki to step out of the bath.  
"Oh, Ranma," Nabiki nodded to him as she opened the door, "Bath's free if you want to take one."  
"Thanks, sis," Ranma smiled, "Er... you okay?" he asked gently.  
"Hmmm? Oh, fine, fine. Just me and Akane fighting again." Nabiki shrugged, "No big deal."  
"You sure?" Ranma prodded.  
"Yeah. I'm not even sure what we were arguing about," Nabiki flashed a grin.  
"But are you guys talking?" Ranma asked.  
"No," Nabiki said flatly. She then realized something and looked around, "Where is she? I thought you two always took a bath together."  
"Yeah, we do usually, but she wanted to blow a little steam off so she's at the dojo." Ranma said without thinking.  
Nabiki raised an eyebrow, "Ah. Maybe I'll join her," she smirked as she turned and stalked down the stairs. Ranma shrugged, a little sleepily and stepped into the bath, intent on getting himself relaxed. It was an hour later when Ranma and Akane cuddled sleepily in bed.  
"Are you two talking again?" Ranma asked tiredly.  
"Kind of. We worked things out in the dojo," Akane replied sullenly.  
"Yeah, I noticed you were favoring your left leg a while ago," Ranma murmured.  
"She's got that vicious roundhouse kick..." Akane sighed, "I don't know what it is about Nabiki that keeps pushing all the wrong buttons with me. I'm not usually so... out of control."  
"Yeah, I know," Ranma replied, tightening his arms around her. They stayed silent for long moments before a thought occurred to him, "By the way... what happened to Ryouko?"  
"She got lost on the way to cafeteria. If we need any more proof that she's a Hibiki, that was it," Akane added with a slight grin.  
"You know, you and Nabiki can't keep this up," Ranma said, steering the conversation back where it should be, "If Kasumi finds out you two have been fighting again, she's going to need another lie down."  
"I know, I know... quit bugging me about it. I'll apologize to her tomorrow, okay?" she sighed, "I just realized how stupid we are for fighting over Tatewaki of all people..."  
"Yeah... he looked really spooked when he heard you two arguing," Ranma replied.  
"He heard us?!" Akane half sat up, alarmed.  
"Turned out he'd walked Nabiki home and he was still there while you and big sis were fighting. He was kinda freaked out towards the end there..."  
Akane sat up, taking Ranma's hands in her own, "Alright, Ranma... tell me every detail," she said in her sharp precise tone as she put her glasses back on, "Don't leave anything out."  
Ranma blinked then smiled in the darkness. This was more like it. This was the Akane he knew. He leaned over and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before he started telling her everything that had happened earlier in the afternoon. Every single detail. Before Ranma stopped talking Akane was already wearing a very blank expression on her face.

Chapter 8: Kisses and memories.  
It was a week later when Ranma and Kodachi decided to have a more or less private dinner at one of the local teahouses. Actually, they hadn't intended for it to be private, as Kodachi's team had just won a rhythmic gymnastics match against the St. Hebereke team and they wanted it to be a celebration, but everyone had declined graciously, more often than not with a wink and a nudge in the ribs. Unbeknownst the two, a few of the Kodachi/Ranma in bed photos had found their way into Furinkan High School's market, through the assistance of Akane and quite frankly, the two were regarded as THE hot couple of campus. Of course there were the new and rather persistent rumors of Tatewaki and Nabiki's behavior... but people were keeping their eyes on that and betting well. Of course, neither of the two knew about this. They were too busy spending quality time together.  
Ranma smiled a little, looking at Kodachi, "So, you want to go ice skating afterwards?"  
Kodachi smiled back, "Sure. Sounds great."  
Ranma's glance stole lower down from her face and he seemed thoughtful.  
Kodachi blinked a little at his behavior and blushed.  
"Are you finishing that?" Ranma asked, as he eyed her plate.  
Kodachi's blush deepened slightly as she realized she THOUGHT he was staring at something else. "Uh... sure... sure, go right ahead."  
He smiled at her once more and gave her hand a little squeeze, "Thanks," before he began transferring her leftovers onto his plate.  
Kodachi rolled her eyes a little, then smiled at him, "I thought you were looking at something else."  
Ranma said as he stuffed his mouth, "During mealtimes, one eats, time enough to look at a pretty girl later."  
She blinked at him and blushed slightly, "You really think I'm pretty?"  
"Course," he mumbled as he dabbed at his lips with the napkin, "I think you're very pretty, haven't I ever said so?"  
"Not really."  
"I think you're gorgeous," Ranma said with some authority.  
Kodachi could only blush.  
"You could've said something like that before you know," she chided looked surprised, "Sorry, I just assumed you knew, so it was kinda unnecessary to tell you."  
"Well, it's always nice to hear it," Kodachi added with a small blush.  
"Alright," he smiled, "I'll make sure to tell you once in a while then."  
"Good," she grinned.  
"Ranma!" a perky girl's voice suddenly cut across their conversation as a speeding blur ran across the tea house. Ranma managed to sputter, "Wha?!" before his capacity for conversation was cut off... he was powerfully glomped from the side, and as he turned his face to see who was doing the glomping, a pair of lips found his and kissed him passionately.  
Kodachi stared as Ranma engaged in a prolonged lip lock with a rather petite brunette. Her expression moved from surprised horror... to cold fury as they continued to kiss for more than thirty seconds. Ranma had made several attempt to push her off of him during that period, but whoever the girl was she wasn't having any of that, and had subsequently managed to slip into his lap and was pressing quite close against him.  
"Ranma," Kodachi said in a flat cold snarl, "Who is this?"  
The girl was rather cute. Her long, light brown hair was tied off in a long ponytail which sent it cascading down her back. She was slender and the very short, very revealing little black dress flattered her quite well. She was wearing a few small items of jewelry, nothing overdone, but mostly served to impress upon anyone looking the high degree of taste and expense which had gone into the selection of the items.  
Ranma with some effort finally managed to dislodge the girl. His face was deeply flushed and he looked very embarrassed, "Er... ah..."  
"Oh, those lips..." the girl murmured swooning in his lap, "Just like I remember them, those wonderful kisses!"  
"Ranma..." Kodachi's voice had taken a dangerous edge to it.  
"Ahh... er, Kodachi... this is... Azusa... she's um..."  
"Mmm... why so shy all of a sudden, loverboy?" the girl asked playfully, pulling him closer against her, "We used to be a pretty hot item."  
"Azusa! We were not an item! Never were, never will be!" Ranma spoke heatedly, obviously scandalized at the thought, "That's all a delusion of yours!"  
Kodachi leaned forward, her eyes gleaming dangerously, "Oh, do tell."  
"Yes..." Azusa sighed, melting against Ranma once more, "It's been three long years without my honey-pie, and I've missed him so MUCH!"  
"It's... not what it looks like, Ko-chan! I can explain."  
"Don't you Ko-chan me, you two timing pervert!" Kodachi snapped at him.  
"But..!"  
Azusa giggled cutely, nipping at Ranma's neck as Kodachi watched, her face blushing in embarrassment at being seen with such a... demonstrative couple. One of whom was her... well... her Ranma!  
Another voice suddenly called out, "Azusa, where did you wander off to this ti... Tendo!" the last was more a snarl than anything else.  
Ranma looked up to find a rather handsome boy of about sixteen who looked halfway scandalized and halfway furious. He was impeccably dressed and wore his clothes well.  
Ranma was still about half a conversation behind, "Wha..? Who..?"  
"Ranma Tendo! It is you! After all these years!" the boy said heatedly. With a visible effort he managed to control himself. He took a deep breath and said in a far more relaxed, though forced tone, "If you would kindly unhand my partner, we shall be on our way."  
"I'm not being unhanded by anybody! I'm staying with my Ranma!" Azusa replied with a sniff.  
"Sanzenhin? Is that you, man?"  
"Yes, It is I, Mikado Sanzenhin, now release Azusa before I..!"  
"I'm not holding her!" Ranma shouted back at him, "You tell her to let go of me!"  
Kodachi sighed in confusion, "Look, Ranma... you seem to be having a lot of fun over there, I'll just go home on my own, alright? I don't think anything else needs to be explained."  
"But I can explain! Honest!" Ranma cried to her.  
Azusa went back to snuggling with Ranma, punctuated with soft giggles.  
Mikado's attention was suddenly drawn to Kodachi, and an eyebrow raised in interest, "Ahh... a young lady taken in by Tendo's wiles? Has he once again cast his evil spell upon some virtuous maiden?"  
"I don't cast evil spells, you moron!"  
"Don't give me that Tendo!" Sanzenhin snapped back, "Ever since our duel, Azusa's been utterly useless as a skating partner! She may have had her faults before, but you've made them worse!"  
"It's not like I did it on purpose, you know!"  
"Duel?" asked Kodachi who was now feeling rather baffled by the entire conversation. She was still quite upset at Ranma. Not quite mad at him per se, but definitely miffed.  
"Nothing of consequence, fair lady..." Mikado smiled at Kodachi, taking her hand, "I am Mikado Sanzenhin, and I would be terribly honored if I were to make your acquaintance."  
"Hey, Mikado! Get your slimy paws off Kodachi! She's not interested!" Ranma called out.  
"Oh, stop worrying about that girl, Ranma-sweetie," Azusa said as she snuggled up to him even more, "You've got your loving Azusa-chan right here for you! Anytime!"  
"Will you get offa me?!" Ranma said, pushing her away again.  
Kodachi blushed slightly at Mikado's opening line but her attention was called back to Ranma by his cry. She frowned at him sternly for a moment, as he was still in the process of extracting himself from Azusa's arms, then composed her features into radiant calm and smiled brightly at Mikado, "I am Kodachi Kuno, pleased to meet you."  
"The pleasure is all mine," the boy replied, as he bent down to kiss her hand.  
Ranma, who had finally managed to get Azusa off of him, snapped out his hand catching Mikado's hand by the wrist, "Lay one lip on her and you answer to me, Sanzenhin," Ranma said coldly.  
Mikado frowned at Ranma, "Is she something to you?"  
"She's... we're..." he glanced helplessly at Kodachi who looked back with cold disdain. Kodachi gave an injured sniff and pointedly looked away from him.  
"Give it up Mikado... you know he's a better man that you are," Azusa said with a faint giggle.  
"I will not accept that!" Sanzenhin shouted at her.  
Azusa gave a little shrug and glomped against Ranma once more.  
Mikado slammed the table with his fist, his eyes wide and staring, "I am better than he is! I have been practicing for the past three years and I am better than he could ever be!"  
Ranma seemed to take offense at this, "Hey..."  
"... I'll even prove it! I challenge you to a rematch, Ranma Tendo!" Mikado cried out, his composure totally blown to shreds.  
Kodachi blinked, interested despite herself, "A rematch of what?"  
"Er..." Ranma started to say.  
"And I'll even prove it with his girl!" Mikado continued ranting, oblivious to the stares the other patrons were giving him.  
With a single fluid motion, Mikado's grip shifted on Kodachi's hand to her fingertips, and pulled her up and out of her seat, into his arms. Ranma, distracted by Azusa was unable to stop him as he pulled Kodachi into his arms, his face inches from hers.  
"Wha--?" Kodachi started to say, but she was cut off as Mikado pressed his lips against her and kissed her.  
It was a pretty good kiss... Kodachi continued resisting for all of a few seconds before she relaxed into it.  
Ranma rose up with a cry, pitching Azusa off of his lap, just as the kiss ended. Kodachi swooned back onto the chair, blinking and a little dazed.  
Mikado gave a smug grin, "Hah. I'd like to see you beat that."  
"You are dead!" Ranma growled, cracking his knuckles.  
Mikado interrupted, still grinning smugly, "Oh, certainly! All you must do is acknowledge that I'm the better man, and I will gladly allow you to pummel me into submission."  
Ranma looked torn, but at about that point, Kodachi seemed to recover from her shock. She stood up slowly and calmly, then with an almost leisurely movement, slapped Mikado into the far wall of the teahouse.  
Azusa winced cutely, "Ohh! That had to hurt!"  
Mikado peeled himself off of the wall and shouted at Kodachi, "What did you do that for!?!"  
"Pervert!" Kodachi shouted back at him, "Masher!"  
"Er..? What?" Mikado looked almost stunned by the accusations, "No! Of course not! You were enjoying yourself weren't you?"  
Kodachi looked close to tears, "Pervert!" she shouted at him again. Most of the other people were nodding in agreement.  
Ranma smirked, "Well, it looks like you haven't learned all that much."  
"Hah! You still haven't done anything. What's the matter? Chicken?" Mikado taunted.  
Ranma gave a suppressed growl and suddenly took Kodachi's hand. She blinked in surprise at him as he pulled her against his body and kissed her as well. Kodachi's eyes widened in surprise as Ranma's lips touched hers and she seemed to panic for a few seconds before she melted into the kiss. It went on for quite a long time... Azusa watched them for a while before she got bored and hopped over to help the stunned Mikado up.  
And still the kiss continued.  
A few patrons alternated between watching the kiss and glancing at their watches... and still the kiss continued... good breath control there.  
Mikado was already tapping his foot impatiently as the two continued.  
... it went on for a little while yet past that before they broke off... Ranma still darting close occasionally to plant soft lingering kisses on her cheek as they pulled away... Kodachi gave a faintly puzzled smile, before she suddenly collapsed in a dead faint in his arms.  
There was random scattered applause from the teahouse patrons.  
Ranma gave them an embarrassed smile as Mikado sputtered incoherently.  
Azusa grabbed onto Mikado by his scarf and gave a sharp tug, dragging him along after him, "Come along, Ranma-sweetie beat you fair and square Mikado-chan! Again!!" she added in a sing-song voice.  
"No! Impossible! How could any woman resist my kisses and yet fall for that uncultured lout's!?! They cooked this up between them! They must have! Release me you wench--aghk!" Mikado called out incoherently as the much smaller girl easily dragged him away.  
Azusa stopped at the door, turning to wink at Ranma who was still cradling Kodachi in his arms, "I'll see you really, really soon, Lover-boy."  
Ranma suppressed a shudder as he wondered to himself what he was going to do about waking Kodachi up. And what he was going to tell her.

At around the same time, Akane was walking home, alone. She'd put in a bit of extra time at her 'office' just to have something to do.  
She knew Ranma had a date with Kodachi and while she didn't begrudge the two of them their time together, she was starting to miss having Ranma's undivided attention. Or Tatewaki's for that matter. Since her last argument with Nabiki, he'd been spending an awful lot of time with Nabiki... Either he was starting to really take the engagement seriously or something else was up. She'd have to look into that. Purely for professional reasons, of course, she reasoned to herself... she had to know what was going on. Regardless of what it was she felt very isolated and lonely. She'd be happy if she could even see Ryouga. But he still hadn't come back for his stuff, which was still at the Kuno Mansion. No one to talk to, no one to be with... she sighed heavily, and didn't notice as a car speeded past her, running through one of the common puddles and splashing her with water. She winced at the water a little but barely noticed as her body shifted into a perfect duplicate of Ranma's. "Ranma! Ranma!" a voice called out behind Akaru. Akaru blinked looking around for his brother... only to realize that he was probably who the person was addressing.  
He turned and found just behind him was Ryouko who was smiling happily. She looked somewhat travel worn and bedraggled. Still in the same outfit she'd worn when she'd gotten lost a week ago.  
"Oh, hey, Ryouko," Akaru gave a wan smile.  
"Hey, you okay?" Ryouko asked, looking somewhat concerned.  
"Nah, I'm fine, just thinking of some things," Akaru answered easily.  
Ryouko glanced around, "So what're you doing in Okinawa?"  
Akaru blinked then stifled a giggle, "We're in Nerima, Ryouko."  
"We are?" Ryouko blinked, "Oh. Yeah. I knew that."  
Akaru smiled, "Come on... you thirsty?"  
"I had a soda two days ago I think." Ryouko replied thoughtfully.  
Akaru chuckled, "Come on. I feel like having something," then almost as a slightly unpleasant afterthought, "My treat."  
Ryouko smiled brightly, "Sure!"  
They walked easily down the street, chatting of nothing much in particular. Mostly about where Ryouko had been the past week or so. Every so often Akaru had to gently put a hand on Ryouko's shoulder and gently steer her towards the right direction. After a while, Akaru tired of this and simply took Ryouko's hand to make leading her around easier. Ryouko noticed but didn't seem to comment. For some weird reason neither could pinpoint, this seemed to be almost entirely familiar.  
"So," Ryouko asked finally as they were getting close to the restaurant, her voice a tentative and a little uncertain, "How's Akane doing?"  
"Oh? Um... she's fine... she's alright..." Akaru sighed slightly. This was the problem when you had no one to talk to. He took one look at Ryouko's earnest smiling face and softened slightly, "Well... she looked kinda down when I saw her earlier."  
"Oh. What's wrong?"  
"She's just... lonely, I guess."  
Ryouko blinked thoughtfully, "She misses Ryouga?"  
"Well... yeah... and then there's Tatewaki and Nabiki..." Akaru continued distractedly.  
"What about them?" Ryouko asked.  
"Oh, I guess she must be feeling a little jealous... I mean he used to spend all of his time with Akane... so..."  
"Well, what about Ryouga?"  
Akaru gave Ryouko a small smile, "Well, it's like this... me and... Akane are still fairly new to this area. We've only been here about a month or so. Akane still barely knows anyone, she's been spending so much of her time wrapped up in... moneymaking she's forgotten how to make real friends anymore..." Akaru's voice grew sadder as he tried to speak as objectively as possible about his own life, "Aside from Ranma, Tatewaki was practically the only reasonably intelligent company she'd found... and sure there's Ryouga and she DOES want to see him again, but it's... he's always missing! She just wants someone who's going to be there for her! And she... she's just so lonely!" Akaru bit off his last words. It was getting difficult to talk, the lump in his throat had grown and tears were starting to form in his eyes... he didn't even know why he was telling all of this to Ryouko of all people, but it just started pouring out... Ryouko put a hand to Akaru's arm smiling gently at him, "Come on... let's have that drink. You need to sit down and have a bit of a rest..."  
Akaru nodded slowly and did his best to smile back, knuckling the tears away ineffectually. He said in a quavering voice, "Scuse me... got something in my eye..."  
Ryouko smiled sympathetically, pulling him into a seat... which as a result of the fact that she was leading they ended up in the next restaurant over a small teahouse.  
Akaru smiled weakly, "I'll... order us something okay?"  
Ryouko nodded, smiling at him.  
The rest of the teahouse was suddenly abuzz with rumors as they settled down into their seats. "Hey, wasn't that the guy who was making out with those two girls?", "Wow, a third one? This guy's some sort of Casanova", "Who cares, he kisses well enough to make that girl faint, I want some of that...", "Such scandalous behavior!", "Where does he get the energy for it?", "You could always ask him.", "I want to know how come none of the girls seem to mind...", "What a man!", "Wanna find out what his secret is?"  
Akaru pushed his glasses up in confusion as he managed to pick up some of the conversations. Ryouko simply blinked at the other patrons in confusion. Most of whom were staring, right up to the point that they noticed either Ryouko or Akaru staring back. Akaru took his time, slowly scanning the other patrons and seeming to memorize their faces. Most turned away under his intense glare, others stood up hurriedly to leave. There was a certain something behind those eyes which promised swift and just retribution. Adding to this fact was Akaru's obvious upset. The waiter passed their table carrying two cups of tea for a couple on the next table, but as luck would have it, one of the patrons intending to hurry away from the intensity of Akaru's stare collided with the waiter, sending the two cups flying... sending them, and their hot contents splashing all over Ryouko and Akaru.  
There was a moment of stark crystal clarity as the waiter turned to apologize profusely to the boy and girl who'd been sitting at the table... he was pretty certain that the boy had been wearing the glasses and the red silk Chinese shirt and that the girl had been in a yellow tunic and had the bandanna... not the other way around.  
Akane stared at Ryouga. Ryouga stared back at Akane.  
"That was you?!" they both shouted at the same time.  
"I'm terribly sorry about that, sir, ma'am..." the waiter started to say.  
Akane turned her fierce glare at the waiter and said in a low controlled voice, "You'd better clean this up and give us both complimentary cups unless you'd like me to have a word with your manager. I can get you fired for this you know."  
The waiter squeaked and scuttled off.  
Ryouga blinked in confusion, and began to pat himself down, the shock of the transformation not only surprised him, it was like having a cloud lifted from his mind... or at least turning the lights on in a room, "I... I'm a guy? I'm... hey, I'm Ryouga Hibiki! I gotta kill Kuno!" he added in a furious voice, then his face became puzzled as he remembered their earlier conversation, "Erhm... okay, so maybe I don't..."  
Akane looked at him, "You'd forgotten?"  
Ryouga nodded a little sheepishly.  
"That bump on the head... and..." she looked at him closely, "you've got a Jusenkyo curse." Ryouga nodded miserably, "Yeah. I followed you and Ranma all the way to Jusenkyo, but I kind of slipped and fell into spring of drowned young girl. So... how about you?"  
"I jumped into an unpatterned spring after Ranma did." Akane answered, "So I turn into him whenever I get wet."  
"But Ranma really is around, right?"  
"Yeah, I didn't mean to fool Ryouko... that is you... I just got splashed before I noticed it," Akane replied.  
"Oh... I... I'm sorry. Didn't mean to fool you either, I just forgot I was me..." Ryouga looked really embarrassed.  
Akane sighed and leaned back, "Well..."  
"Er... yeah," Ryouga's face suddenly clouded again as he remembered the night from the week before, "I can sort of understand your being lonely and all... I felt that way the whole time I was looking for you," he added accusingly, "But you knew I was looking for you and you were still sleeping with Kuno."  
"I thought he was Ranma," Akane shrugged, getting back in control of herself and the situation. It was all well and good if she let others see her lose control while a guy... but not as herself... it just... would not do.  
Ryouga's eyes bugged out, "You..! And Ranma?! Sleeping together?! I'd think you'd've noticed the differences! I mean with your brother! That's scandalous1 that's... that's... that's... really bad!"  
Akane seemed a little off put by Ryouga's reaction, "Oh for goodness sake Ryouga, I was only with Tatewaki for an hour or two, I managed to get to Ranma later that night, why are you so surprised... I mean you knew Ranma and I slept together."  
"No... not like you and your brother sleeping together back when you were staying with us," Ryouga blushed deeply, "I mean, sleeping together sleeping together!"  
She gave him a level look, "Are you talking about sex?"  
"Yes!" Ryouga sputtered, his blush worsening.  
"I didn't have sex with him!" Akane shot back, trying to remain calm but her fists had clenched, How dare he make such accusations!  
"That's not what it looked like to me!" Ryouga replied heatedly, slamming his fists on the table.  
"Oh you were watching, were you?" Akane asked him sarcastically.  
"No! I mean yes! I mean..! what the heck else could it have been, I mean you were on top of him and he was saying your name over and over and..."  
By this point in time it should be noted that people had already begun keeping notes... this was getting REALLY juicy.  
"Will you keep your voice down?" Akane asked him pointedly.  
"Er... I... that is..."  
"First of all," Akane said coolly, "I just met him again a few months ago. I like him, but I don't like him THAT much. Yet. I don't know what you think of me, but I am most certainly not just going to do THAT with anyone just at the drop of a hat!"  
"That's not what I meant..." Ryouga began to say defensively.  
"Second," she said, reaching across the table and collaring him, dragging him closer to her face, her lips nearly touching his ear, "Didn't I promise you once that as long as we were an item, I wanted my first time to be with you?" she said continuing in a softer tone, "Have you EVER known me to break a promise?"  
Ryouga gulped nervously at their proximity, "I... yes, you did promise, but... that was two years... I mean, no you've always kept your wo--"  
Akane continued to murmur into his ear, "And third, we NEVER officially broke up Ryouga... we're still an item. Don't you forget that."  
Ryouga stammered incoherently, the scent of her hair, her shampoo... the spilt tea... it was all beginning to overwhelm him, he felt himself getting dizzy.  
Akane kissed him softly on the cheek, "I still love you, you big dope..." she released his collar allowing him to flop back into his seat, she continued in a normal speaking voice, but there was an undertone of sadness to her words, "But I don't know if I want to stay in a relationship with someone who I can't rely on to be there when I need him."  
"A-Akane..." Ryouga stared helplessly at her, "I still love you too... I can change! I'll be there for you! I promise! I'll... I'll learn how not to get lost! I will! I promise."  
She sighed, "Oh Ryouga... I wish I could believe that. I really do. It's just, I know you'll eventually manage to wander off somewhere again, and get lost for who knows how long... I'm not sure I want to have to keep waiting for you."  
Ryouga slipped out of his seat quickly kneeling next to Akane. He held her hands clasped in his, "Please! One more chance! I beg of you..! I followed you all this way... I've spent the past two years of my life just searching for you! I won't give up without a fight! I won't!"  
A nearby little old lady prodded Akane, "I'd go for it, dearie... you don't usually get 'em that passionate nowadays."  
Akane blinked as the lady passed by, then looked back at Ryouga. She smiled gently at him. Despite herself she found herself being swayed by his enthusiasm. Tatewaki had been great company for a time... but, Ryouga's devotion called desperately to her, and she could feel it beginning to work.  
She smiled brightly at him then said, "Oh, get back in your chair you look ridiculous," her tone was half teasing, half playful, and Ryouga knew what it meant when her eyes lit up like that.  
All but stumbling on his own feet, Ryouga managed to get back to his feet.  
Akane held up a finger, "Alright. One chance. I'm giving this one last chance..."  
"That's all I'm asking for," Ryouga beamed happily.  
"Oh, shut up," she said lightly, collaring him once again, but this time pulling her towards her into a passionate kiss... There were cheers and applause from their audience.  
Ryouga managed to return the kiss for a few seconds, before he fainted from sheer happiness.  
Akane sighed happily, playfully mussing his hair as he lay sprawled and unconscious on the table, "Okay, so maybe it's not such a bad idea..." she said softly.

Kodachi awoke slowly. She was fairly comfortable. Obviously she'd been lying on something soft. She opened her eyes fully to see Ranma kneeling next to her as she lay on a futon. His expression seemed to be torn between worry and happiness. She didn't recognize the room, but realized after a moment that it was the Tendo house. The living room... then she remembered why she'd been unconscious. She quickly got up, moving into a kneeling position, not looking directly at Ranma. She blushed furiously and several emotions were duking it out for a chance to be featured on her face.  
"Um... sorry about that, Ko-chan... I... well, I kinda lost my head there and wasn't thinking clearly."  
Kodachi turned towards him slightly, her head still low, she glared at him through her bangs, "You'd better be able to give me a satisfactory explanation for your behavior and who those people were or I will do something very unpleasant to you... then when I'm done, I will tell my father... and he will tell your father... and they will BOTH do unpleasant things to you."  
Ranma gulped nervously, "Okay... explanation... alright... it started about three years ago. Akane and I were staying in Tokyo, not too far from here. Anyway, we'd been kind of living off of our savings at the time, but we didn't have anywhere to sleep, so we were camping out at a vacant lot, except that isn't really all that important to the story... anyway.  
"Akane decided she wanted some ice cream and drags me along... she conned this guy who was about a year or so older than us into buying the ice cream for her, only problem is that when he does buy her the ice cream he says he'll take payment back and kisses her without warning. And it wasn't even a cheek thing, full on mouth with tongue and all."  
Kodachi blinked, "That was that Mikado person?"  
"Precisely. He was kinda weird even back then. Anyway... after he finishes the kiss, Akane gives him this look... like he's the lowest scum on the planet, I think you know what I mean..."  
"Yes," Kodachi agreed.  
"Pretty intimidating, I ought to know," Ranma continued, "She used to practice that on me. Then she says to him quite clearly and loud enough for everyone in the restaurant to hear that her brother could kiss better than Mikado could."  
Kodachi blinked, "What?!"  
Ranma nodded, "Yup... so Mikado starts ranting and screaming about how no one could possibly out kiss him, how she was lying yadda-yadda-yadda. Next thing I know, Akane was there grinning like a shark and I've been challenged to a kissing duel. In a week's time, there would be three girls, we kissed each of them once... whoever the majority of the girls preferred would be the winner."  
"You agreed to THAT?!" Kodachi sputtered.  
"Akane's really persuasive..." Ranma replied sheepishly, "Anyway... a week passes, we go to the designated spot, and find that Mikado's brought in his skating partner, Azusa, as one girl, and this cheering squad bimbo who he knew had the hots for him... and somehow, I'm not sure, Akane got the third girl he brought in ruled out and herself included."  
"I see..." said the faintly puzzled Kodachi... "You what?!"  
"So we both kissed the three girls once each..." he pressed on before Kodachi could have a hance to really get the image in her head, "He started. Turns out he was bribing Azusa with a teddy bear or something to vote for his kiss and she had no idea WHAT was going on... the other girl was pretty much guaranteed to vote for him, and Akane was pretty much in my corner... they all get kissed by him, he gets a 'not bad' rating overall, but mostly because Akane was being really critical, then I took my turn..."  
"And..?" Kodachi prodded.  
"Azusa and the other girl, Mariko... they... um... fainted. Akane swayed a bit... so I got a really good overall rating... and I won."  
Kodachi took a deep breath. If she hadn't actually felt the impact of his kiss, she would've doubted the truth of that... but she knew what it felt like... and nodded, "What I would like to know is where you learned to kiss like that..?"  
Ranma looked definitely embarrassed... "You promise not to laugh or get mad?"  
Kodachi gave him a faintly puzzled look, "Alright, I won't..."  
"Um... well, I spent the week between the challenge and the actual fight learning how to actually kiss..." Ranma said sheepishly.  
Kodachi blinked, "Learning?"  
"Yeah, Akane found me all of these manuals and I kinda treated it like learning a new martial arts technique... so I kept practicing with Akane for the week... I mean, I didn't have anyone else to practice with... and I had NO idea what I was doing half the time..."  
Kodachi was doing her best to look at him coolly, but her blush totally ruined the effect, "You were kissing your sister... like you kissed me?"  
"Um... yeah... although I gave you just the basics, because I was trying to keep you from fainting..." he added, "Guess it didn't work. And anyway, it was like a fighting technique, only... well, it was a lot more fun to practice..."  
She raised an eyebrow, "Do tell... this still doesn't explain Azusa..."  
"Oh, that. Well, after the competition, she kinda... erhm... attached herself to me... so did the cheerleading girl..." he said worriedly, "One kiss and they kind of... you know... um... wanted me. Me and Akane had to clear out of the neighborhood..."  
"Your lips are dangerous weapons then..." Kodachi said firmly.  
"Um... sorta..." Ranma nodded miserably.  
"Well," Kodachi said sternly, looking him straight in the eye now, the flush on her cheeks not receding at all, "There's only one thing to be done then..."  
"Wha--?"  
She reached a hand out, and pressed her fingers against his lips, she had a slightly wicked smile on her face, the blush only making her look all the more beautiful to him, "That being the case, then, I'm claiming these lips as mine... make certain to use them wisely and only on my direction... do you understand me?"  
"Um... no."  
She gave him a fierce look, collaring him and pulling him a little closer. She was surprised by her own boldness... but thought of having to share those kisses with ANYONE was jarring, "Kiss anyone but me in that way again and I will kill you," she said sweetly. "Um... I can... live with that..." Ranma said smiling sickly... this is why he didn't go around kissing more women... they always ended up acting strangely afterwards.  
"Good," Kodachi smiled as her blush deepened, she averted her gaze from him, "Now perhaps... I should start for home..."  
"I'll walk you there... I'd've brought you all the way home, but the dojo was closer, and I didn't want to have to explain to Aunty and Uncle why you were out cold."  
Kodachi giggled, "I suppose not. Although I've spoken to mother and she would have absolutely no objection to the idea... of... you know... us."  
Ranma looked at her thoughtfully as they rose to their feet, "Think we should try to make it more official?"  
Kodachi held Ranma's hand and they looked at one another. They both smiled at the same time, "Why not?" then laughed merrily.  
Kodachi got a playful gleam in her eye as a thought occurred to her, "By the way Ranma... does Akane still have those books you used to train with?"  
"Um... no, we sold them after that. Why?"  
"Because I thought perhaps I could learn how to do that... I think perhaps you might enjoy that..." Kodachi said, blushing shyly.  
"Well..." Ranma smiled back, "I could always teach you personally.  
"Do tell..."

Chapter 9: Memories of family.  
For what must've been the quietest and perhaps most pleasant week since the return of Ranma and Akane, the Nerima district settled down into quiet routine. Akane and Nabiki had more or less established an undeclared truce and neither had so much as sniped at the either in all that time. Accordingly, Kasumi didn't need quite so many lie downs. Ranma and Kodachi were spending a lot of their time together. Ryouko, who was now staying with the Kuno's, also spent a lot of time sleeping over at the Tendos. Well, at least as far as everyone else was concerned. Of course Ranma knew better, after all Akane kicked him out of her room every so often when Ryouko dropped by and he'd started getting suspicious when she'd sneak hot water bottles into her room. He wasn't too happy about having to sleep alone, but then again, he was getting used to it. He did promise Kodachi after all. Nabiki and Tatewaki seemed to be getting along no better. But she didn't lose her temper at him more often than once a day now, and both Soun and Kochou both felt very hopeful about the future of their engagement.  
Ryouga... or as everyone in the neighborhood had come to know him (or rather her)... Ryouko, had disappeared again. Lost, obviously. Akane wasn't too worried. She'd bought him a global positioning doohickey and a cell phone with international coverage, so even though he wasn't there per se, she could still reach him. She'd actually even used some of her own money to buy the items, but then again, she'd managed to talk the rather surprised dealer into letting her have the phone connection free for the first couple of weeks. It was after this week that Nodoka Kuno had dropped in on the dojo unexpectedly. It was largely unexpected but Soun seemed to be ready for her and had actually gone to the extent of putting on his best gi as he greeted her at the door.  
"Hello, Nodoka-san," Soun said gravely.  
She bowed formally, "Hello, Tendo-san... are you ready?"  
"Yes. It seems that the year has gone by so quickly..." he mused.  
Nodoka nodded... then noticed Ranma and Akane peeking at them from around the corner. There was a bit of wry amusement in her eye, despite her formality. "I believe, we have some eavesdroppers, Soun."  
Soun turned, and Akane ducked back quickly. Ranma less alert to his father's movements was caught like a deer in the headlights. He tsked quietly at Ranma and said, "Well, son... If you're so curious why don't you come with us? I think it's past time you got a chance to meet your namesake..."  
Ranma blinked as he emerged fully from around the corner, Akane having taken the time to duck around to the kitchen, "Erhm... what do you mean dad?"  
Nodoka nodded and gave him a gentle smile, "Yes, I think you should come along as well..."  
Before Ranma could muster up any sort of excuse or a request for an explanation, he was already ushered into the limo. Akane watched them leave through the kitchen window, still curious.  
"Kasumi," Akane asked, "What was that all about?"  
Kasumi looked up from her cooking and glanced at the calendar, "Oh my, is it that day already?"  
"What day?"  
"Today is the death anniversary of one of father's friends. He and Aunty Nodoka always visit the grave today."  
"Oh," Akane said.

The limo pulled into the gate of the graveyard and Nodoka and Soun disembarked in grave silence. Kodachi apparently had also come with them, and she and Ranma had stepped out of the limo, following their parents respecfully. Kodachi wore a formal, conservative black dress and held Ranma's hand as they wove their way through the graveyard's path. It was a short walk until the four of them reached a pair of graves. Ranma was burning with curiosity, but the attitude of his father and Aunty Nodoka made him defer his questioning for much later.  
Ranma noticed a young woman tending to one of the graves as they approached. She was beautiful in a certain understated fashion, but there was a deep sadness to her brown eyes. She had long brown hair, tied off in a long ponytail and she was dressed in a formal kimono. She noticed Nodoka and Soun arriving and smiled briefly, standing up from her washing of the grave marker.  
"It's good to see you again, Kuno-san, Tendo-san..." the girl said bowing formally to her then to Soun. Soun gave a nod and a small approving smile.  
Nodoka returned her smile briefly, and said, "It is good to see you again too, Ukyou-chan. I'm sorry we're late."  
"Its alright... I was just finishing with the cleaning..." she noticed Kodachi standing off to the side and favored her with a slight smile as well, "Kodachi... I didn't expect to see you here."  
"Mother invited me," Kodachi replied, smiling back.  
The girl, Ukyou gave Ranma an odd look... there was something about him she couldn't quite place, but he looked very familiar.  
Nodoka placed the two bundles of flowers she'd brought with her at each of the graves, as Soun quietly busied himself with lighting the incense.  
Kodachi and Ranma stood respectfully to one side. Neither of them had much of an idea as to what was going on, but there was a palpable feeling of being asked to share something which had heretofore been a very private affair. Before long, Nodoka knelt before the slightly larger grave marker and the girl knelt before the smaller one, both deep in prayer.  
Soun stood next to Kodachi and Ranma, his head bowed in silence. The young couple looked at each other, then their companions, and after a moment, bowed their head quietly as well.  
Before long, Nodoka and Ukyou both stood up. Nodoka caressed the grave marker one last time, a tear trickling down her cheek as she did and said, "I will see you next year, my darlings," before she turned and walked away.  
Soun nodded, also wiping away at his own tears, "We'd best be going home."  
Nodoka nodded and turned to Ukyou, "Would you like a ride to the house?"  
"No, ma'am. If you don't mind," Ukyou replied, "I'd like to stay here for a little while. I'll follow."  
"Oh, alright then," Nodoka nodded.  
"Um... mother, Mr. Tendo?" Kodachi asked.  
"Yes?" the two asked simultaneously.  
"Would it be alright if Ranma and I stayed a little while? I can walk back to the house with Ukyou, if she doesn't mind..." Kodachi said. Ukyou stared a little at the boy again, as Ranma's name was mentioned. Her face seemed pained."  
Nodoka nodded, "Alright. But don't be too late coming home. Your father will worry."  
Kodachi gave her a small smile, "I've got Ranma with me, it'll be okay."  
Soun nodded, "Make sure you take good care of her, son."  
"Sure thing, dad," Ranma replied as Nodoka and Soun walked back to the car.  
Kodachi smiled a little at Ukyou, "You'll be staying with us this weekend, Ukyou?"  
Ukyou gave a small nod, "Yes. Just like every year," she glanced at Ranma again who looked back at her. Ranma also felt a little strange. There was something odd about this girl which made him feel... he wasn't certain. She was certainly attractive, but it was more than that. There was something comfortingly familiar about her. "Um..." Ukyou glanced at the smaller grave, then at Kodachi again, "I don't believe I got an introduction..." as she looked at Ranma.  
Kodachi for her part did not see to much amiss, but she couldn't help but notice the looks the two were exchanging... she felt another brief stab of jealousy as she often did when other women would look at him but this seemed worse, because Ranma seemed to be looking at her the same way... "Oh, Ukyou Kuonji, this is Ranma Tendo," Kodachi said, gesturing to the two of them, she entwined her arm with Ranma's, "My boyfriend."  
"Oh," Ukyou said, looking faintly puzzled, and perhaps a little jealous at the two. Then the name hit her, "Ranma... Tendo..? I didn't know Mr. Tendo had a son."  
"Well, I've kind of been away for a while," he looked at the graves, they were for a Genma Saotome... and the smaller one was for a Ranma Saotome. He gulped nervously, "So... this is the guy dad named me after, huh, Ko-chan?"  
Kodachi nodded, "I guess..."  
Ukyou looked both puzzled once more, and slightly relieved, "Named after?"  
Kodachi smiled a little at Ukyou, "He was adopted by the Tendo's, I guess after the Saotome's died... Mr. Tendo named him after his best friend's son, because he didn't know what his own name was..."  
"Oh. I see," Ukyou nodded.  
"Um..." Ranma ventured, "Were you related to them?"  
Ukyou seemed to sag a bit, "You could say that... I... Ranma and I... I mean, Saotome... we were best friends when we were little. I was engaged to him."  
"When you were six?" Ranma sputtered a little.  
"Well, it was an arranged marriage of sorts, but both of us wanted it." Ukyou added sadly.  
"I see..." Kodachi nodded.  
"Um... I still don't see though, why Aunty Nodoka came along..." Ranma asked.  
"Oh, didn't you know?" Ukyou said, "Genma Saotome was Mrs. Kuno's first husband."  
"I know she was Kodachi's stepmom, but I didn't know she'd been married before..." Ranma blinked.  
"I only found out about it recently, myself," Kodachi nodded.  
Ukyou nodded and smiled a little, "Just let me say a last prayer for Ran-chan... and I'll join you."  
Kodachi and Ranma both nodded as Ukyou turned back to the grave and began to pray silently once more. Ranma felt mildly disturbed that the dead boy had also been called Ran-chan by this girl... there was something the kept nagging at him, which he couldn't quite put to rest. Some feeling of nameless, uncertain conviction that he'd met this girl before.  
Ukyou managed to control her breathing. Her chest felt tight and she didn't know what was wrong with her... there was something about the boy Kodachi was with... something so incredibly... irresistible? Was that the right word? She didn't know what it was but his face kept flashing through her head... especially those eyes... but she'd made a promise at Ranma's grave when she'd first began to visit it, years ago... she would have no one but him... she'd resolved never to love anyone else... ever. But here was another boy... named Ranma too... and there was something about him... she felt torn and more than a little disgusted at how she was betraying her Ran-chan like this... and to make matters worse, the boy already had a girlfriend... and it was Kodachi too, one of the few friends she had... she chewed thoughtfully on her lower lip as she tried to sort her thoughts out and calm herself.

Ranma nodded and smiled at Ukyou, "So your family does okonomiyaki?"  
Ukyou nodded, "Yes. I'll be inheriting the family business someday... but I usually help out at the family restaurant after classes. Actually, that's how I met the Saotomes."  
"What do you mean?" Ranma asked.  
"Well, every day, Ranma would challenge me, we'd fight and if he beat me, he got to have his okonomiyaki for free," Ukyou smiled wistfully.  
"So the Saotome's did martial arts?" Ranma asked.  
Ukyou nodded, "Yes."  
Kodachi finally came back, "Okay, I called home and told mother not to hold dinner for us," she gave a little chuckle and added, "And it would seem that my bother has invited Nabiki to dinner."  
The three of them were in a small local restaurant. It wasn't anything particularly fancy, but the food was good and the service wasn't bad. They'd spent the past hour or so becoming better acquainted. Ukyou and Kodachi had known each other for years, but they usually met only once a year or so, whenever Ukyou would stay the night at the Kuno household, after her yearly visit to Ranma's grave. Even then, more often than not, their conversation was never anything particularly personal and they hadn't known each very well before this day.  
Ukyou and Ranma nodded to Kodachi at the same time. There was something going on and Kodachi couldn't quite put her finger on it. Ukyou and Ranma had simply started talking as if they'd known each other for years. They shared a lot of common interests and to Kodachi's surprise, she found herself being drawn into the conversation too. Yet Ukyou seemed a little uncomfortable around him, and would often flinch when Kodachi called him Ran-chan.  
Ukyou smiled easily at Ranma, "So... I hope you guys don't mind my asking, but have you guys known each other long?"  
Ranma smiled back then at Kodachi, who's lips had been pursed slightly, "Well, we were playmates back when we were a lot younger... we only got serious recently," he noticed Kodachi's look and his own face seemed mildly concerned, "Something bothering you, Ko-chan?"  
"Hmmm? Oh, nothing. Just lost in my thoughts I guess," Kodachi replied.  
Ukyou sighed, looking at the two of them, "You know, you two are really lucky. I hope you remember that."  
Kodachi and Ranma both shot Ukyou a puzzled expression.  
"I mean... not everyone gets a chance at love... and you two are obviously very happy," Ranma and Kodachi both blushed slightly, but exchanged glances.  
Ukyou turned silent and looked at the table uncomfortably, "A chance at love..." she murmured softly.  
Ranma reached a hand out to Ukyou, "Hey... there, there... come on..." he gave Kodachi an awkward glance his eyes begging for help.  
"There's always second chances, Ukyou," Kodachi said gently, "I mean look at my dad and my stepmom... they were both pretty sure they'd never love anyone else after their first marriages ended... but look at them now. They're very happy together."  
Ukyou glanced up at her two new friends, a small brave smile on her lips, tears staining her cheeks, "Yeah, I guess... but I've sworn on Ranma's grave, I'd never forget him... ever," her voice was intense, "I've raised myself to become the best bride he could ever hope for... I wanted to be as perfect for him as possible... to honor his memory."  
Kodachi looked sympathetically at Ukyou, she felt she had to say something to the girl... about not living her life in the past, about not trying to confuse the wishes of the six year old boy she loved, and the man he could've been. There was a lot Kodachi wanted to tell Ukyou, but it would've been very rude to say such a thing. Especially to someone you practically just met. Kodachi had no idea Ukyou still held a torch for her long lost fianc ... her stepmother's son... Kodachi wished she could say more, but there really wasn't anything to be said.  
Ranma looked worriedly at Ukyou... he didn't understand why he was feeling this way, but something about her was calling to him. He tried to fight the feelings back by glancing at Kodachi, but while that seemed to help a little, but another glance at Ukyou just seemed to overwhelm it... Ukyou took a deep breath, calming down slightly. She dabbed at her tears with a napkin sniffling slightly, "I'm sorry... I didn't mean to do that... it... it just happens to me sometimes. I just start thinking about it... and I remember and the next thing I know, I'm crying again..."  
Ranma smiled weakly at her, doing his best not to look, but at the same time unable to resist, "It's okay..."  
Kodachi caught his tone of voice and glanced at him... her brow creased in a slight frown. She didn't understand why he was acting like this towards Ukyou. And she couldn't help getting a little jealous at how Ranma was looking at the other girl. But then again she couldn't really fault Ukyou either, who by the looks of things wasn't at all interested in any man but her dead fianc ... or was she? Kodachi sighed. She had to give her boyfriend the benefit of the doubt... that's part of what the relationship was about right? Although if he did try anything he was dead meat. Sweetness and light were all very good, but she was a handy woman with a pair of gardening shears.  
"Would you like to see a photo of him?" Ukyou asked.  
Ranma nodded immediately. He was rather curious about his namesake.  
Ukyou reached into the sleeve of her kimono and pulled out a wallet. She opened it to the only picture which was there and passed it over to Ranma and Kodachi to let them have a look.  
It showed two children, about six years old standing in front of an okonomiyaki cart. One was dressed in a blue short coat and tights whose hair was in a long ponytail, while the other was in an old gi and had his hair tied off into a short pigtail. They were holding hands and waving happily to the camera. At first glance, it seemed to be two boys, but a closer look at the child who was in the tights showed features which would eventually blossom into Ukyou's, but the boy... the boy... Kodachi reeled back slightly in shock as he studied the photo. It was surprisingly clear for its obvious age. By the way it looked, it seemed as though Ukyou had kept this picture near her all the time.  
"That's the only photo I have of both of us," Ukyou said, smiling slightly. She pointed at the child in tights, "That's me... and that's Ranma... my Ranma."  
Kodachi was struck dumb.  
Ranma looked at her, "Ko-chan..? What's the matter?"  
That smiling face in the photo... she'd seen it before.  
Without another word, Kodachi reached a hand into her purse and pulled out her own wallet. Unlike Ukyou's, hers had quite a number of photos. Friends and family. She flipped through the photos until she found one in particular which had been taken nine years ago... she took a nervous gulp and showed it to them. It was impossible. It was incredible. She couldn't believe it and couldn't bring herself to say it.  
The photo showed the Kuno family garden, and a smiling seven year old Kodachi in a pretty black dress. But next to her and holding her hand, dressed in a child's version of formal clothes was an uncomfortable looking boy who was tugging at his collar impatiently. The face of the boy was almost exactly like the boy in Ukyou's photograph. Right down to the pigtail.  
"Wha... that looks like..?" Ukyou started to speak.  
"This is a photo of me and Ranma... this Ranma..." she added laying a hand on Ranma's shoulder, "When the Tendo's first adopted him..." Kodachi said in a flat tone.  
Ranma blinked, "But... my picture looks exactly like the other kid's picture! That's impossible! I mean the other Ranma died right?!"  
Ukyou stared at Ranma, her voice dead, "Mr. Saotome and Ranma Saotome were sideswiped by a car when we were on a seaside road... Mr. Saotome got hit and died instantly... Ranma Saotome fell off the side... into the sea. All we ever found was his tattered gi..." her voice beginning to grow louder and faster as she kept talking, "But we never found his body... that grave we visited earlier is empty... what if... he survived..."  
Kodachi continued, "... and maybe got hit on the head, so he didn't remember anything about himself, but still knew martial arts, and wandered around Japan until eventually he found his way to Tokyo... then to Nerima... then to the Tendo Dojo..."  
"That's crazy!" Ranma sputtered.  
"No, but it all fits!" Kodachi said excitedly to Ranma, "Ranma Saotome was a martial artist, like you were when the Tendos found you... the timing and the ages are right... and the photo's Ran-chan! The photos! It's you!"  
"But... but..." unbidden tears began to flow down his cheeks, "You mean I know who my parents are now? I'm... I'm not just some nameless orphan?"  
Kodachi nodded and embraced him, happy for him, her own eyes beginning to water in sympathy as well, "And that means..." she gasped as she realized the implications.  
"Your step-mom is my real mother?!" Ranma blurted out in shock as it occurred to him as well.  
Ranma turned to look at Ukyou, whose eyes were full of tears... she was visibly tense, but her eyes were happy... without warning she suddenly lunged across the table, embracing Ranma tightly, "It IS you! It has to be! I've prayed! Oh, how I've prayed! You're everything I hoped you would be!"  
Ranma was beyond hearing, after all these years he knew who he was now. He knew who his parents were and he could be proud of his lineage... he hadn't been abandoned, it had just been circumstances outside his control. He hugged Kodachi and Ukyou back tightly, not thinking clearly anymore, laughing crying, sharing the moment with both women. He kissed them both in his happiness, first Kodachi then Ukyou. Kodachi reeled from his kiss, not noticing he was doing the same to Ukyou, who while she didn't faint, certainly looked like she was ready to die happily in his arms. Ranma realized little just how complicated his life was about to become.  
Especially when one considers that they were in a public restaurant... and as is often the case, word got around.

An hour later, at the Kuno mansion, Kodachi walked into her mother's sitting room with a bounce in her step. She was happy, both for Ranma and for her stepmother.  
Kodachi opened the door tentatively, "Mama?"  
Nodoka sat in a rocking chair knitting something idly. She saw her stepdaughter peeking into the room and smiled slightly. Despite the bittersweet memories the day had dragged up for her, she was satisfied and happy with her life as it was. But she was melancholy, as this day always made her. "Oh, Kotchi," Nodoka greeted her as she stepped the rest of the way in, "How was dinner with Ranma and Ukyou?"  
"It was fine mother," Kodachi replied, eager to get the preliminaries out of the way, "Ukyou's already asleep in the guest room, she was rather exhausted."  
Nodoka nodded absently, concentrating on her knitting, Kodachi stood impatiently, trying to work out precisely how she was going to tell her stepmother.  
"Um..."  
"Nabiki and Tatchi seem to be getting along very well nowadays," Nodoka spoke, "You were right, Kotchi... they do seem to like each other."  
"Ahh... that's wonderful, mama, but I need to tell you something--" Kodachi began to say but was interrupted.  
"Kotchi... did I ever tell you why I was opposed to the arranged marriage Soun and your father tried to set up?" Nodoka asked, her hands busy.  
"Um... no..." Kodachi, despite herself was curious. She loved her stepmother dearly, but there were times when Nodoka could be very tight lipped about her reasons for things, and it was a rare day when she explained herself to her daughter.  
"There's two reasons actually," Nodoka said, "The first was because my first husband, Genma, engaged our son to Akane, for the continuation of the Anything Goes School, even before they were born..."  
Kodachi blinked in surprise, "Akane Tendo? You never mentioned THAT."  
"It was a rather moot point," Nodoka continued, "I didn't find out about it until he'd died. But when I look back on things... you see, Genma took my son with him on a training journey when he was no more than three years old... and he'd promised to return with Ranma Saotome a man among men..."  
"Three? That's horrible!" Kodachi said, feeling sorry for Ranma.  
Nodoka nodded, "I agreed to it, eventually, but... I'd always worried that the reason he took our son with him was to make sure that my son would be a worthy groom for Akane... but they died before I ever had a chance to see them again..." her voice sounded bitter and hurt.  
"That's horrible..." Kodachi murmured, then remembered why she had come here in the first place, "But..."  
"The second reason," Nodoka continued, seeming not to have heard Kodachi at all, "Is Ukyou."  
"What does Ukyou have to do with anything?"  
"Poor girl... she's so young, beautiful, intelligent... I'm certain she could find a husband easily, but she still mourns her fianc ... my son to this day. She's dedicated her life to becoming his perfect bride, even though he is gone. I've often wished I could help her overcome it, but she refuses to even think of other men, fearing that if she were to be with someone else, she would forget him, and that would be the greatest of betrayals," Nodoka spoke slowly, her voice till pained by memories as she spoke to her daughter, "Arranged marriages, keeping these impossible standards, it warps people, doesn't help them be who they wish to be or want to be, but what they think other people wish of them... I did not want such a thing forced on either you or your brother, but since your brother does seem to be genuinely fond of Nabiki, I think perhaps this could work out for the best..." she gave Kodachi a gentle smile.  
"You seem to be getting along quite well with Ranma yourself, so I hope that works out well too..." her face broke into a pleasant grin, "I want plenty of grandchildren you know."  
Kodachi blushed beet red, "Mom! We haven't even discussed that!"  
Nodoka laughed slightly at her stepdaughter's discomfort, "I'm only joking. I do hope you two will wait til you've graduated from college."  
"Yes, mama..." Kodachi smiled back.  
"Was there something you wanted to talk to me about, Kotchi? Here I've been prattling on and on..."  
"Oh, it's alright mama, I have wonderful news! Ranma is..." then she caught herself... Ranma... her Ranma, Ranma Saotome... Ranma Tendo, whatever you choose to call him was engaged to be married to AKANE!  
"Yes dear? What is it about Ranma?" Nodoka prodded.  
"I'll... um... I'll get back to you on that in a moment, mama... excuse me!" Kodachi managed to say as she retreated. Ranma was engaged to Akane? His sister? No, his adoptive sister... and to Ukyou... and to her, provided Tatewaki and Nabiki don't work out, but they seem to be doing alright, so... she was terribly confused... on the other hand she was still his girlfriend... so that gave her claim better legitimacy right? Or did Akane's take precedence... but she was his sister for goodness sake... and this Ukyou girl who they knew very little about... she need some expert help for this... Kodachi poked her head quickly into the sitting room once more, "Um... mom? I' going to go to the Tendos for a little while okay? I just need to get something from Akane..."  
"Isn't it awfully late young lady?" Nodoka said pointedly.  
"I'll have Satsuke bring me in the car..."  
"Alright, but don't take too long," Mrs. Kuno said.

Ranma walked happily along the railing next to the waterway on his way home. On the ground watching him in confusion was Nabiki.  
"So what're you so happy about?" Nabiki asked him, slightly bemused, as he skipped over a railing post, flipped to a handstand, then flipped forward, back onto the railing, without breaking stride.  
Ranma flashed a grin back at her, "Just got some great news! I'll tell you... I'll tell everyone about it when we get home."  
They were already only a few blocks away from the dojo when the pair spotted Akane slouched against a lamppost, her arms folded and a rather annoyed expression on her face.  
Ranma leapt forward the last couple of feet, snatching the surprised Akane up in his arms and spinning her around laughing merrily, as he sent her skirts flying. Akane blinked in surprise at him and almost smiled back in return, his obvious joy seemed quite infectious, but she'd spent the past couple of hours building up a good head of annoyance.  
Ranma continued grinning as Akane said sharply to him, "Where've you been? If Nabiki hadn't called the house to say that you two were going to be walking home together, I'd still be worried sick!"  
But not even Akane's sour expression could begin to dent Ranma's mood, "Really sorry, sis. But I guess I kinda lost track of time!"  
Akane, undeterred, began to harangue him, "I mean you're old enough to know how to use the phone for goodness sake... will you put me down, you're messing up my concentration here!"  
Ranma merely grinned at her and spun her around some more.  
Nabiki stood near them, just outside the range of Akane's helplessly flailing feet and gave a wry smile, "He's been like this ever since we left the Kunos..."  
Akane reeled dizzily as Ranma spun them to a stop. He still hadn't stopped smiling, which meant he was really, really happy. She poked him sharply in the chest, "Alright buster, spill your guts, what happened?"  
Ranma said, "Nah, I just got great news..."  
Akane smirked, "So did Kodachi agree to sleep with you already?"  
Ranma sputtered, "Wha--? Where'd that come from?!"  
"Or it could be that new girl who's staying a couple of days with the Kunos," Nabiki remarked half idly.  
Akane raised an eyebrow, "Really?" she snaked her arms around Ranma's neck, "Is that it? You've got another new girl, brother-dear?" she said in silken tones, "Keep this up and I'm going to have to get really jealous."  
"Er... ahh..." Ranma tried to speak.  
Nabiki flashed the pair a meaningful look, "Hey, you two, stop that, we're outdoors... what'll people say?" she sounded scandalized.  
Akane winked back at her as she managed to free herself of Ranma's limp grasp, "So, tell me sis... what was this new girl like?"  
"Well, she did seem kind of pretty," Nabiki said in measured tones, "And she was hanging all over him when they arrived. Kodachi didn't seem too jealous come to think of it, which is really strange..."  
Akane smirked, "Oh, really?"  
Nabiki nodded mock seriously.  
Ranma managed to recover somewhat, "It's not like that at all!"  
"Do tell..." the two Tendo sisters said more or less simultaneously.  
"You know I liked it better when you two were fighting," he grumbled.  
The Tendo sisters exchanged glances, "Who?" they asked simultaneously, "Us?" "Fighting?" Akane asked, projecting obvious scandal from her face.  
"Wherever did you hear that from?" Nabiki asked, feigning severe emotional distress.  
"Har-de-har-har," Ranma grumbled back at them, "What a pair of comediennes. I could bust a gut laughing."  
Akane and Nabiki both giggled at him as he replied. Before their laughter had ended however, the black limo of the Kuno family pulled up next to them on the curb. The three Tendo siblings stared at it in surprise.  
The rear window opened and Kodachi popped her head out, "Hi, guys!"  
"Ko-chan?" Ranma said incredulously, "I thought you were already home?"  
"Yeah, but we need to talk about something... um... privately." Kodachi said.  
Ukyou also popped her head out of the opposite window and waved to them, "Hello again, Ran-chan," she said sweetly.  
Akane raised an eyebrow and Nabiki elbowed her brother, "Well, well, well... quite the lady killer aren't we, bro?"  
"Is it about..." he left the last few words hanging.  
Kodachi nodded once and beckoned him over.  
Ranma nodded back, confused and opened the door.  
"Hey, Kodachi... where are you taking him?" Akane asked worriedly.  
"We'll just drive around the block while we talk..." Kodachi chewed her lower lip for a moment as though considering things then nodded, "Akane would you please come along as well? This concerns you too..."  
It was Nabiki's turn to be surprised... she had no idea what this was about, but if she had to guess... she's say it was that all of the women Ranma had been sleeping with (she assumed this Ukyou person had slept with Ranma, considering how physically intimate she'd acted towards him those brief moments before they'd left), and they had decided it was time to figure out who got to sleep with him, when. Oddly enough, the image that thought conjured up both repulsed and amused her. Just as well she wasn't part of that.  
"I'll head on home and tell Kasumi you guys might take a while, alright?" Nabiki waved to them.  
"Er... right." Kodachi said, giving a small worried smile, "See you."  
Nabiki laughed to herself. Served him right for having so many lovers... it certainly didn't shock her as much as it used. She must be getting used to them.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Ranma shouted, "Let me get this straight. So you mean to tell me that my girlfriend is my stepsister, which I already knew about, and that my adopted sister is actually my fianc ?!"  
"Let's not forget your childhood friend who is your real fianc ," Ukyou interjected.  
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves here, Ukyou," Kodachi said with a bit of an edge to her voice.  
Akane was almost laughing, "This is too incredible to believe."  
"Sis, it's not funny!" Ranma snapped.  
"It is from where I'm sitting," Akane said doing her best to keep from sniggering.  
Kodachi shot Akane a fierce look, "Don't tell me you WANT to marry your brother!"  
"No one's marrying him but me," Ukyou declared flatly.  
"Ukyou, one problem at a time, alright?" Kodachi glared. She was beginning to get annoyed at Ukyou's one track mind on this matter. She was also getting annoyed at how Ukyou had her arms wrapped around one of Ranma's arms, as though to make sure he would never leave her side again.  
"Um..." Ranma tried to say something, but was interrupted by Akane as she gave a playful grin at the other two girls in the vehicle.  
"Well, I don't know... I mean I never really considered him marriageable material, I mean he IS my brother, adopted or not, but I really wouldn't mind marrying him. I mean aside from his obvious sterling qualities, he's a good kisser and he's very considerate in bed. Wouldn't you agree Kodachi?"  
"AKANE!" Ranma and Kodachi both shouted at her scandalized.  
Ukyou's jaw dropped in shock, "You mean you... and..?"  
"That's not what she means!" Ranma sputtered.  
Ukyou's grip tightened on Ranma's bicep, "So what DOES she mean, Ran-chan?" it was a tone Ranma had long since learned to recognize as jealous female glower number three. Usually reserved for the moments just before violence occurs.  
Kodachi was generally a very mild mannered woman. It took a lot to set her on edge. Ukyou's possessive streak towards Ranma was testing her patience, "Look! Will you stop trying to look like you own him?! He sleeps with his sister! Just that! Sleep!"  
Ukyou glared back at Kodachi, "I asked him, not you, alright?"  
"Well, I'm answering for him, alright?" Kodachi snapped at Ukyou, "And would you kindly keep your hands off my boyfriend?"  
"Your boyfriend or not, he's my fianc and you keep YOUR hands off," Ukyou shot back.  
Ranma squirmed uncomfortably as the two women glared across his chest. As both high voltage gazes met across his lap, the sparks flew and made it a most uncomfortable and highly dangerous position to be in. Across from the three of the, Akane lounged easily, her feet entangled somewhat with Ranma as she dominated the entire rear facing seat of the limo.  
"Um... girls? Girls... this isn't really the place or the time..." Ranma wondered how he was going to get out of this one.  
Akane clapped her hands loudly, calling their attention, "People, people, settle down, there's more than enough Ranma for everyone, I'm sure we can work something out..."  
This seemed to help calm everyone down, but the metaphorical temperature between Kodachi and Ukyou plummeted... or to put it another way, by all rights, Ranma should've been flash frozen.  
"First things first," Akane said, smiling smugly, "Let's sort this little debacle out... girls, let's be reasonable... you've both got my brother's best interests at heart don't you?"  
Kodachi and Ukyou traded glances once more across Ranma's chest, but this was less a dagger stare, and more a reasonable exchange. Despite themselves, they couldn't help but notice the same look behind one another's eyes. There was some basis for understanding between them... They both dropped their gazes to their laps and both said meekly, "Yes."  
"Good. Now, Ranma... do you still remember Ukyou?" Akane asked.  
"Um... yeah, bits and pieces... now that I know who she is... plus some stuff about my dad too..." Ranma said slowly, "But mostly I remember what it was like when Ukyou and I used to play together..." he smiled a little. Kodachi winced slightly, but forced her face to be impassive. She remembered spending long lazy afternoons with Ranma herself when she was smaller.  
"So you believe that she IS really your fiance from when you were little?" Akane said.  
"Erhm... I don't remember that!" Ranma said, mildly embarassed at the thought, "But it sounds kinda... possibly... like it's probably true..."  
Akane forced a smile, "Well, bro... looks like you've got a fianc AND a girlfriend on the side."  
"I am not on the side," Kodachi snapped irritably.  
Akane smiled pleasantly, "Alright, sorry. But let me put it another way... Ranma, do you think you could make a decision about who you'd rather be with now?"  
"Umm... ahh... err..."  
"I'll take that as a 'no'," Akane said smugly, "Now, I just hope you ladies can discuss this between yourselves in a civilized manner."  
Ukyou and Kodachi exchanged glances once more.  
"I suppose we can do that," Ukyou conceded. Kodachi merely nodded.  
"Of course I expect to be told all the juicy details," Akane grinned at them.  
Ranma blinked as he realized something, "Hey! Don't go blabbin about this in school! I've got a bad enough reputation as is!"  
Kodachi glanced at Ranma then at Akane, "She wouldn't... would she?"  
Akane fluttered her lashes innocently at her brother, "Moi? Brother dear whatever would give you the impression that I would spread something as... interesting as this little bit of info around campus."  
"Cause I know you too well," Ranma replied.  
Akane chuckled, "Alright, you got me."  
"Name your price," Ranma said in grim voice.  
Akane held up two fingers, "Two backrubs and the next week's worth of cleaning out the dojo after practice."  
"Sold," Ranma grumbled.  
Ukyou merely blinked.  
"But we've still got the other situation..." Kodachi interjected.  
"And as for the other problem... look, Ko-chan, you might be worrying yourself over nothing," Akane said soothingly, "It's highly unlikely that your stepmom... Ranma's mom... how weird that sounds..." she murmured to herself, "Is going to uphold an engagement between me and Ranma."  
"I don't know... mama can be very progressive sometimes... but other times, she's depressingly old fashioned," Kodachi said doubtfully.  
"Yes," Akane replied, holding up her finger as she took a lecturing tone, "However, let's keep the relevant facts in mind. You said that she mentioned that she objects to arranged marriages on principle. And there doesn't seem to be all that much point to the marriage other than to originally unite the original two Anything Goes Schools... which is now going to be done with Tatewaki and Nabiki's betrothal... do you see what I'm saying? I really think she'd be so happy about finding out that her son is still alive, this old stuff won't matter."  
"I suppose you're right..." Kodachi conceded.  
Ranma nodded, "And I want to tell Aunty Nodo... I mean mom about me."  
Ukyou smiled, "This sounds very good to me."  
"Great," Akane said, sitting back and crossing her arms, "Another problem solved. And we hardly had to resort to a plan."  
Ranma grumbled, "Yeah like your plans always work..."  
"Hey, it worked for Nabiki and Tatewaki," Akane replied with a sly grin.  
Kodachi and Ranma looked at her, "You're kidding!" they said in unison.  
"What about Nabiki and Tatewaki?" Ukyou asked.  
"Sis had this allegedly brilliant plan that would keep everyone happy and make sure that my other sister Nabiki, and Kodachi's brother Tatewaki don't have to marry against their will... I guess it kinda flubbed out, cause we were expecting her to somehow break the engagement of the two without making either family too unhappy..." Ranma explained.  
"Well, that's what I told them of course," Akane grinned, "I mean the way things are going now, they're not going to marry against their will. They'll probably be pretty happy to do so. I mean they go out practically every night."  
"You mean that was your plan all along?" Kodachi asked incredulously.  
"Of course! I throw myself at Tatewaki and make Nabiki so jealous that she'd start seeing Tatewaki as a potential significant other. You didn't REALLY think I was interested in him did you?" Akane smiled mockingly.  
Ukyou blinked, "Wow, that does sound like a good plan."  
"Thank you," Akane winked at Ukyou.  
"You've GOT to be kidding!" Ranma sputtered.  
Akane shrugged negligently, "Believe what you will," She mentally congratulated herself on being able to maintain her reputation... it was just as well... but somewhere... deep inside her, she couldn't help but recoil at what she'd just said.  
Kodachi called to the chauffeur, "Satsuke! Kindly drive us back to the Kuno mansion... there is something Ranma needs to speak to my mother about."  
"As you wish Mistress Kodachi."

There are certain events in people's lives which should by all rights remain private. Some things better not shared with people not so close us... Ranma's reunion with his mother was one such event. Let's simply say it was very touching, and heartfelt... and a great deal of very sincere emotion was poured out... but it was an event reserved for them.

Chapter 10: ...is a crowd.  
The late weekend afternoon was apologetically edging its way towards evening, at the Tendo dojo. The sounds of flesh striking flesh, the whipcrack of fists and feet as they cut through the air in powerful movements, the grunts of effort and the trademarked martial arts kiais had finally given way to a more sedate and lazy silence as Ranma and Akane had already completed their training for the day and the cleaning up of the dojo had been done leaving little else for them to do. But one must remember something about workouts... they get the blood really pumping... Of course, this did not help Nabiki much, as she still heard rather odd noises coming from inside the dojo as she passed by. She needed to speak to someone and since her problem, (as it were) was not something she wanted to make the rounds of the school, she certainly couldn't talk to her usual friends about it. Hence she was walking towards the dojo. She needed to talk to Ranma... who knew? Perhaps a male perspective would help straighten things out. This was quite a big step to take for a former man-hater, but then again she still had trouble thinking of Ranma as a guy, per se... he WAS just her kid brother. Plus he was so unlike all the other guys. Even granting that by his reputation he'd proved it out more than several times already. She knew perhaps she should talk to Akane, but she was still rather uncomfortable with her sister's attitudes. And especially when one considered what Nabiki's problem was and about WHOM, it wasn't entirely prudent to ask for Akane's opinion on the matter. Which all brings us back to where she was, standing just around the corner of the dojo's door. She knew she could just walk in and ask Akane if she could speak with Ranma privately for a while... but she'd become very leery of walking in on the two of them. Even before she'd stepped out of the house, she'd resolved that she would knock first and give them enough time to get... well... decent. Since she had no idea what other... things... the two could be doing behind closed doors. She swore to herself that the two were utterly shameless, scandalous and it would serve them right if they got caught. Of course, there was also the tiny twinge of envy and curiosity, but she snuffed THAT out rather brutally. She admitted to herself that she might be reading a little too much into what she'd seen, since Kodachi seemed to know about everything and seemed to be fine with it. And Kodachi was a pretty straight laced and traditional girl. Which either meant there really WAS nothing going on, or that Ranma and Akane were a lot more persuasive than she gave them credit for.  
Her thoughts were wandering again, but that was okay too... she knew she really should knock and let them know she was going to come in, but just standing out there let her have time to gather her courage together... that and the fact that she needed a little extra time to NOT be affected by the sounds coming out of the dojo. There were actually two major sounds... the very soft intermittent grunting, which she was fairly sure was Ranma... but she couldn't be very sure because it was mostly getting blocked off by the faint half sighed moans she could also hear... definitely louder... and it definitely sounded like it was Akane... she really should either knock or move away, she thought ... just standing there LISTENING to them... she was going to turn into someone as bad as Akane! They were absolutely shameless! In the middle of the day and in the dojo no less! Occasionally she could also make out random snatches of conversation, but those were even worse than the grunts and moans.  
"... come on... you can do it harder than THAT..." that was Akane, Nabiki supplied mentally.  
"Okay, okay..." Ranma's voice filtered out.  
"... Mmm... yesss... that's so nice..." Akane sighed.  
It went on in that vein for a few more minutes before Nabiki finally lost her nerve. She turned on her heel and resolved to speak to Ranma AFTER dinner... let them have some time for themselves... yeah that was it... and she needed him coherent, not... well... worn out. She assumed guys got worn out... Nabiki was halfway to the house when Ukyou and Kodachi stepped out.  
"Oh, hi, Kodachi... this is a surprise..." Nabiki said.  
Kodachi smiled back sweetly, "Hi! Ucchan and I just dropped by to see if we could convince Ran-chan to join us out to dinner."  
Ukyou smiled a little shyly, "Hello."  
Nabiki nodded, "Sounds good," she glanced over her shoulder uncomfortably and said vaguely, "Um... I... uh... think he's... um..." she blushed, "Busy... with Akane..."  
Ukyou looked slightly disappointed, "Oh..."  
"It's okay, we can drag Akane along too," Kodachi said to Ukyou cheerily.  
Ukyou nodded, "Yeah, that sounds okay," she giggled slightly, "Though he's going to have to divvy up his attention between the three of us."  
Kodachi joined her giggling, "I'm sure he can handle it."  
Nabiki glanced at Ukyou curiously and cleared her throat... "Wow, you two seem to be getting along really well."  
Kodachi and Ukyou traded glances and smiled, "Well," Ukyou said, "We decided we both liked him too much to alarm him by arguing."  
Kodachi nodded in agreement, "Besides, its a lot easier being friends than rivals."  
"Especially since I'm staying at Ko-chan's place," Ukyou added fastidiously.  
"Only till Monday though, right," Kodachi smirked, "After that I get Ranma to myself."  
Ukyou smirked back, "At least until my transfer clears, then I'm moving here... I've been without him for a couple of years anyway, I can stand a little longer... then you're going to have to share."  
Kodachi sniffed slightly, "I guess we'll have to live with this until we figure out who'd be better for him."  
Ukyou nodded. There was a definite understanding between the two of them.  
Nabiki just stared at them, "You two are strange."  
Ukyou shrugged expressively, "Anything to be with Ranma."  
"I wouldn't quite have put it that way..." Kodachi winced slightly, "But it's better than having to fight over him."  
"What is it about him..?" Nabiki murmured wonderingly.  
"We'll see you later, Nabiki... we'll look in on Ranma and Akane..." Kodachi said cheerfully.  
Ukyou looked thoughtful for a moment then said, "Say, Nabiki, would you like to join us? You look like you need someone to talk to..."  
Nabiki shifted uncomfortably, "Um... I dunno...no, I think not. Thanks though."  
Kodachi gave a small concerned smile as she passed Nabiki, "If you're sure. Just let us grab your brother and we'll be out of here."  
Nabiki's face seemed panicked, "Do you think you should... um... interrupt them?!"  
Kodachi shrugged and smiled at Nabiki, "Well, judging from what I can hear from here, it's nothing they wouldn't mind us stepping in on."  
Nabiki blanched.  
Ukyou looked curiously at Kodachi, "What ARE they doing?"  
Kodachi took Ukyou's arm, "You'll see for yourself," and pulled the other girl the rest of the way.  
Nabiki recoiled slightly, "I'll... um..."  
"Nabiki? There's a call for you on the phone." Kasumi's gentle voice filtered out to the back yard.  
"Uh... 'scuse me..." Nabiki said apologetically as she beat a hasty retreat into the house, thanking Kasumi quietly the whole while.

Akane had her eyes closed, and her face had the warm flush of a vigorous workout. Her lips were parted slightly, and an expression of pure bliss was on her face as Ukyou and Kodachi entered the dojo. Akane obviously took no notice of them, she was too deeply engrossed in what Ranma was doing to her. Ranma however who was right behind Akane, did notice them.  
"Hi, Ko-chan... hi, Ucchan," Ranma smiled, continuing what he was doing.  
"Hi, Ran-chan," the two girls chorused. Kodachi smirked slightly and Ukyou gave the Tendo siblings an odd look, "What're you doing?" she said.  
Akane's eyes fluttered open after a moment, "Mmm... oh... hi guys..."  
Kodachi crossed her arms, "Another of those famous Ranma Tendo treatments, hmmm?"  
Ranma blushed slightly, "Er... yeah."  
"Pure heaven," Akane murmured, as her brother continued to knead the last of the tension from her shoulders.  
Ukyou looked curiously, "Really?"  
Kodachi turned to her and said enthusiastically, "Yeah. He usually gives me one after my rhythmic gymnastics training."  
Akane smirked, "Yeah... you get them from him free and I have to bargain for one... mmmm... a little harder, bro..."  
Ranma harumphed quietly, "That's because she's nicer about asking for them."  
Noticing the expression on Ukyou's face, she glanced speculatively at Ranma, "Say... why not give Ukyou one? Let her see what she's been missing."  
"Hmm?" Ranma looked up, "Would you like a backrub, Ukyou? I'm nearly done with Akane, would you like a turn?"  
"I don't know..." Ukyou smiled hesitantly.  
Kodachi pulled Ukyou further into the dojo, "Come on, you'll love it!"

Nabiki caught the tail end of their conversation as she stepped into the house. She had to revise her estimate somewhat... apparently Ukyou hadn't been introduced to... whatever it was that Ranma did to Akane and Kodachi... and now thy were introducing her to whatever perversion that was... she shuddered... wondering to herself how warped her siblings were... and yet she couldn't help but feel a little jealous at how close the two of them were... a lot closer than she was with Kasumi, that was for sure. But she was also sure she wasn't going to do any of THAT for bonding's sake. She shuddered slightly as she reached the phone.  
"Hello, this is Nabiki."  
"Nabiki, it's Tatewaki... are you busy?"  
"Not really..." she said tentatively. She wasn't entirely enthusiastic about talking to Tatewaki... she already saw him too often at school for comfort sometimes. While she would admit he was okay company, all of the speculation regarding their engagement was really starting to wear thin.  
"Well... there's a new bookstore at the mall... and... um... well, I'm rather bored here. Would you like to join me?"  
"I don't know..." Nabiki began to reply, but there was a sudden beeping, "Um... that's the call waiting, Tatewaki, hold, okay?"  
"Sure."  
BEEP "Hello, Tendo Dojo," Nabiki said.  
"Hello? Yes... Nabiki? It's Dr. Toufuu..."  
"Oh, Hello, Doctor. Is anything the matter?"  
"I just wanted to confirm with Kasumi that I'll be dropping by for dinner," the mild mannered voice of the doctor returned, "She invited me."  
"Oh," Nabiki nodded, "I'll... uh... should I give her the phone?" she asked worriedly.  
"No need. If you could just pass the message on. I can't stay on the phone long, I have another patient coming in."  
"Sure, no problem," Nabiki replied. She waited until she heard the click of the doctor putting the phone down and hurriedly jabbed the button to return the line to Tatewaki, "Okay, I'm joining you. It's not going to be safe to have dinner at home," she said hurriedly.  
"Not safe?" Kuno's voice asked.  
"Doctor Toufuu's dropping by."  
"Ah. Well, I'll pick you up in..."  
"No, I'll meet you at the mall."  
"But Satsuke's driving, it's no trouble..."  
Nabiki frowned, "Look I can get there on my own, okay?!"  
"Sure, sure... no problem. See you in a while."  
Nabiki put the phone down. Well... out with Kuno again... of course, it would be a great deal safer being with him than here... with the doctor and her sister in the same place.  
She peeked into the kitchen where Kasumi was finishing straightening up and said, "Kasumi? Dr. Toufuu just called..."  
Kasumi whirled suddenly, facing Nabiki, her face was as impassively cheerful as always, but her eyes were wide open and sparkling eagerly, "He did?" she asked in her mellow voice, but there was an odd edge to it.  
Nabiki gulped nervously, "He said he'd be dropping by for dinner?"  
Kasumi's face brightened immediately, "That's wonderful!!" she declared, the plate in her grasp slipping and smashing onto the floor. Nabiki could almost swear she heard strains of violin music playing in the background.  
"Yeah... um... I'm going out for dinner... and so are Ranma and Akane I think..."  
Kasumi smiled brightly at her, "Alright! Oh, I have so much to prepare!" as she bustled around the kitchen, her feet crunching on the shattered plate as she moved around. Practically stumbling on her own two feet as she eagerly rooted through the cupboards, "I know the good china's in here somewhere..." she murmured.  
"Um... Kasumi... that's where you keep the detergent..." Nabiki said cautiously "Oh my... that's right! Silly me!" Kasumi giggled happily and then tromped over to the sink, peering at it closely, "Maybe they're here?"  
Nabiki rolled her eyes and slipped away unnoticed by Kasumi, who had once again entered her own world. It was pointless to try and talk to her when she was in this state. There were times when Nabiki would swear that she was probably the only normal one in the family. Now THAT was a scary though.

Nabiki looked up from the magazine she was reading right into Tatewaki's smiling, bespectacled face, "Got what you wanted?" she asked idly.  
Tatewaki nodded, "Yup. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle repair. I once had a copy, but I believe my sister may have misplaced it."  
"Can't see why you'd need it. It's not like you've got a motorcycle."  
"Ah, but you miss the point, it is simply using the vehicle, as it were of motorcycle repair as a metaphor for explaining the more obscure truths regarding..."  
Nabiki nodded wearily, not really in the mood for a long winded explanation, "Right, right... let's get going. I'm starved."  
Kuno nodded at her interruption then glanced at the magazine she was reading, "Vogue?"  
Nabiki glared at him, "What?"  
"Oh... nothing," Tatewaki stammered, "It's just... well, I didn't expect you to be reading something like... I mean... I assumed you were reading the Martial arts magazines..."  
Nabiki's frown deepened, "Are you trying to say something, Tatewaki?" she growled, leaning close to him.  
"No. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Not a word," He replied hurriedly, trying to pacify her quickly.  
"You probably don't think a tomboy like me should be reading something like this?" she said in tones of low menace.  
"That's not what I meant and you know it!" Tatewaki replied sharper than he'd intended.  
"Well what did you mean?!"  
"It's just that you simply did not strike me as someone who'd be reading a fashion magazine," he attempted to explain rationally.  
"And why NOT?!" her voice was decidedly furious other people in the book store were already glancing in their direction.  
"Because you never wear make up, you always dress nicely. I mean it didn't seem at all as if you need to read that sort of thing," Tatewaki answered soothingly.  
Nabiki deflated slightly. The was an irked look on her face, but deep inside she felt somewhat mollified and flattered despite herself, "Don't think flattery's going to save you," she grumbled, "We're going to get something to eat first and if I still feel like flattening you afterwards, I will."  
"Looking forward to it," Tatewaki murmured in a deadpan voice as he led the way to the food court.  
The two teens ambled easily through the mall with that patented swagger one so often sees among members of the mall subculture engaged in the activity known as 'hanging out'. It's not so much a walk as a very leisurely undirected amble designed to take one in no particular direction, but serves more to eat up time rather than save it. As they walked there was the occasional sally of conversation from one or the other. Which was more often than not politely, or in Tatewaki's case, less than politely, shot down by the other. From a goodly distance it was even possible to imagine that the two of them were a pleasant young couple just out for a leisurely stroll through the mall. Closer, however, Tatewaki's relaxed air could've easily been taken for boredom or well hidden tension. While Nabiki's entire stance seemed to be that of someone just itching for a fight at the slightest provocation. Every so often she shot Tatewaki a glance which was more puzzled than anything else. As though asking herself what she was doing here with him.  
"Hey, Tatewaki," Nabiki said suddenly after a long uncomfortable silence.  
"Yes?"  
"Have you talked to your dad about the engagement recently? Any luck getting him to call it off?"  
"I've had some luck," Tatewaki replied smoothly, "All of it bad. He refuses to budge on the matter. I can only assume you have not fared any better?"  
"Nope," Nabiki said, "He saw you walking me home the other day and he was ready to rent out the wedding hall right then and there."  
"Oh."  
Nabiki smirked slightly, "I'm almost tempted to continue on with Akane's plan... have some girl pretend to fall for you so that our parents can see we're not meant to be."  
"Oh no. Not again. Once is enough." Tatewaki said firmly.  
Nabiki raised an eyebrow, "What's the matter?" her voice took a nasty edge to it, "I thought you enjoyed the attention."  
He gulped nervously, "That is not the point, your sister already has a boyfriend, whom I might add is a psychopathic miscreant quite given towards physical violence."  
"Well, you can't blame him," Nabiki said somewhat amused, "He thought you were making time with Akane."  
"Which I would like to point out," Tatewaki added primly, "I was NOT doing."  
"Well... why not some other girl?" Nabiki said thoughtfully, "I mean I've seen how some of our classmates look at you. I'm sure they'd probably enjoy it."  
Tatewaki blinked at her, "Whatever do you mean?"  
"What I mean, dimbulb," she said to him slowly, "Is that I know for a fact at least half the girls in our class have crushes on you."  
"Surely you're joking," he looked mildly disturbed by the thought.  
"No, I'm not... and don't call me Shirley," Nabiki grinned, "And I can't see why you'd deny it, I mean its blatantly obvious."  
"Not to me it isn't," he denied, "I have noticed no such thing."  
Nabiki rolled her eyes, "Are you really that clueless? Come on! Geez, Let's see... Kimiko stares at you nearly all day in class, Miko would probably faint if you so much as said hello to her. Yohko already put together the Tatewaki Kuno fan club... they think you're a hot property."  
"I did not realize..." he seemed mildly intrigued a the idea.  
"Any one of those girls would probably be more than willing to help us out of this engagement thing, because it'd mean you would be on the market again," Nabiki explained.  
"And yourself?" Kuno asked with a playful smirk, "What do you think of all of this?"  
She glared at him through hooded lids, "Don't flatter yourself. I think you're tolerable as guys go, but that's not that much of a step up. You are most definitely NOT my type. Now, about you and the other ladies," she shifted the topic back gleefully.  
"I... I don't know. This does not sit well with me. Did we not give up on Akane's entire scheme to begin with simply because it was unpleasantly... well... deceitful? Should we lower ourselves to those base depths, even if it is to free ourselves from our suffering?"  
Nabiki's eyes narrowed slightly, "Are you calling this engagement suffering?"  
Tatewaki returned her gaze, "Can you honestly say you are enjoying yourself?"  
"Point taken," Nabiki conceded, "On the other hand... if you could meet one of those girls and really do end up liking her... I mean, where's the deceit there? It's perfect! You go and date around, find yourself someone who you'd like and we can have our end of the entire engagement thing cancelled because your heart would belong to someone else already!"  
Tatewaki blinked at her, "I can see that scheming apparently runs in the family," she frowned at him, as he continued, "Notwithstanding your masterful ploy, the gaping holes in it seem to be as follows... first... would be the fact that for all practical purposes I am marked territory. Yours, if rumor is correct. No girl would risk your wrath by going out with me, nor would informing them of this be of any use to us, for such information would surely reach my father's ears, and we would be most assuredly caught. Second, I am not interested in any of the other girls in our class. Third, it would surely be decidedly awkward. And the most important fourth, is the fact that I have NEVER asked a girl out on a date! I would not have the faintest idea of what to do, how to act, what to say..." he shuddered nervously at the mere thought, "It would be a disaster! It would be horrible."  
Nabiki shared at him, "Geez, lighten up, Tatewaki. It's not like I asked you to defuse a nuclear bomb or anything, you just ask a girl out. I mean, I know you're shy and all, but that's too much."  
"Well... I ask you out, don't I?" he said tentatively.  
Nabiki's eyes narrowed, "Of course, this isn't a date."  
"Of course. We don't date," Tatewaki babbled nervously at her, "We never date... we just... hang out... yes..."  
"Good," Nabiki said, "You better remember that."  
"Perhaps the other way around?" he said idly after a moment, "We have already established that the entirety of the male student body is attracted to you... with a few exceptions..."  
"What?" she laughed, "Me? Date the guys from our school? No, thank you. Not interested." She said flatly.  
The expression which passed across Tatewaki's face could've been perhaps relief or nonchalance or perhaps even a tired resignation, but it was difficult to tell, "Well, then it would appear that we remain stuck."  
But Nabiki had failed to notice him as her attention had been caught by the display window of the jewelry store they passed, "Oh my... look at that," she murmured breathlessly.  
Tatewaki moved over to stand next to her, looking curiously at the display. It was a tiny katana, gilt in delicate gold trim. On the display next to it was a similarly tine sheath, which was attached to a gold charm bracelet.  
"Lovely... some sort of letter opener, I imagine," Tatewaki replied.  
Nabiki smiled sadly, "Wish I could buy it. But it looks kinda pricey."  
"Rather," Tatewaki nodded.  
"Hey, what're you guys doing here?" a familiar voice called out from behind them.  
Tatewaki and Nabiki turned to find Ryouga and Akane arm in arm looking at the both of them.  
Akane's voice was bright and cheerful but there was a slight edge to it, "So you guys are here on a date?"  
"We are NOT dating!!" Nabiki snapped just as Kuno said calmly, "It's not a date."  
Akane nodded slowly, "Right."  
"I thought you were going with Ranma, Ukyou and Kodachi for dinner or something?" Nabiki asked.  
"I was going to, but Ryouga showed up," Akane replied giggling slightly as she entwined her arm with Ryouga's. Ryouga smiled happily back at her and they exchanged pecks on the cheek.  
"So we're on a date," Akane finished.  
Kuno looked at the happy couple, then glanced at Nabiki for a moment, then back to Akane... be couldn't be certain why, but a small pang of envy stabbed at his heart.  
Ryouga noticed Kuno's expression and his face shifted to a dark frown, "What're you looking at, Kuno?"  
Kuno surprised at Ryouga's tone glanced at him, only now remembering who this person was... Akane had explained to him about Ryouga's poor sense of direction and how the entire bathroom incident was an accident, but it didn't exactly help him warm up to the fellow. Not to mention his rather heavy handed treatment of Akane, at least from what Tatewaki had seen... despite himself, he felt his own temper rising, "Do you have a problem with me, Hibiki?!"  
Ryouga stepped past Akane, glowering at Tatewaki, "Damn right, I've got a problem with you and your wandering eye! You've already got a fianc , so stop looking at my girlfriend!"  
Tatewaki took a step forward as well, until he and Ryouga were practically nose to nose, "Akane Tendo happens to be a good friend of mine, and I see no reason why I should not look at her or speak to her if I so choose! If you are too insecure to deal with that then perhaps you should seek counseling!"  
Ryouga was already in the process of rolling up his sleeve, "Insecure?! You're calling ME insecure?! You are DEAD!"  
Tatewaki stood his ground, dropping to a stance.  
The Tendo sisters meanwhile were frantically trying to stop them this whole while.  
"Guys! We're in public! This is so embarrassing!" Nabiki muttered, trying to pull at Tatewaki's arm.  
"Ryouga, it's not worth it! Come on, just walk away!" Akane pleaded.  
Both men ignored them, as they dropped into ready stances, feeling out one another's defenses.  
Nabiki snapped at Akane, "This wouldn't have happened if you'd kept your boyfriend on a shorter leash!"  
"My boyfriend?!" Akane snapped back, her temper fraying, "Well if you'd ever bothered being more interested in him, maybe Tatewaki wouldn't be so interested in looking at me!"  
"So you're saying this is MY fault?!" Nabiki shot back.  
"Well think about it, he's got to be the best catch in the whole school and you treat him like dirt!"  
"I do NOT treat him like dirt!" Nabiki protested.  
"If he were my fiance--" Akane began to say but Nabiki cut her off.  
"So you ARE still interested in him!"  
"I am NOT interested, I have a boyfriend already! You're lucky Tatewaki-kun even sticks around you! I'm surprised he hasn't gone off already!"  
By this time a small crowd had gathered to watch the row between the two women. Also by this time, Ryouga and Tatewaki's little argument had fallen to the wayside as the full blown ripsnorter Akane and Nabiki were cooking up roared out in full force.  
"Um... ladies?" Tatewaki tried.  
"Akane-chan?" Ryouga said meekly, "Nabiki?"  
"We aren't fighting anymore..." Tatewaki said, smiling weakly.  
"Yeah, look, everything's hunky-dory, sweetie... we're buddies now, see?" Ryouga tried with forced cheeriness his arm around Kuno's shoulders and Kuno's arm around his.  
"Shut up!" Akane snapped at him, turning back to glare at Nabiki.  
Nabiki shouted at the two men, "Keep out of this. This is a family argument."  
Tatewaki and Ryouga both cowered, clinging to each other under the intensity of the Tendo sister's glares, "We're shutting up now," the two said in uniformly small voices.  
It took a while, but eventually, the argument did wind down with no significant damage done to anyone. But not before mall security had been called in to handle the matter. All in all, a rather bang up ending to a date... or to a session of hanging out.

Nabiki sighed as she reclined into the plush seats of the Kuno family limo. She had protested when Tatewaki had insisted on having her ride the car home, but not too much. She certainly didn't feel like walking. Another argument with Akane, and this one in public no less... how embarrassing. Tatewaki himself had not decided to ride the car, which might have actually been part of what convinced Nabiki to accept the ride. He seemed pretty upset. More at himself than at anything else. She knew he didn't often loose his temper and he didn't like it when he did. Especially considering that he nearly got into a fight, which would NOT sit well at all with his mother. So instead she and Akane had gotten into a fight.  
Nabiki ran the argument over in her head once more, she wasn't even certain WHY they had been fighting or precisely over what. On reflection what seemed to have been the major issues was that Akane still seemed to like Tatewaki, and for the life of her, Nabiki didn't know why this upset her so much, except possibly because of her boyfriend... not to mention her entire relationship with Ranma... another may have been Nabiki's treatment of Tatewaki. That one really hit home. Was she being unfair to him? All things considered? He was a pretty nice guy, he deserved someone who would take good care of him... instead of me. Then there was the fact that Tatewaki DID seem to like Akane also, but she couldn't understand it entirely... it seemed more as if he was worried that Ryouga wasn't good enough for her. She would ask herself why he would care, but then when she thought about it the answer was simple. It was just the kind of guy he was, she guessed.  
But the part she kept turning over in her mind was what she should do with Tatewaki. They were certainly getting along... much better than she'd ever expected, but that wasn't enough to make a marriage work, was it? Especially when she was in love with someone else. Someone whose name she didn't even know. Someone who she knew only through his letters... his beautiful letters. It wasn't fair to anyone, she decided, but she had no idea what to do about it. The situation certainly wasn't fair, she knew that much. And her mysterious secret admirer had already dropped some fairly broad hints these past couple of weeks about her having 'someone else'. There was nothing between her and Tatewaki... nothing at all. She knew perhaps it was well past time she wrote him back, but she had no idea HOW to do it. He always slipped his letters into her locker through the slats. She certainly couldn't tape a note outside her locker. Who knew who'd open that? And somewhere deep inside she knew, she didn't WANT to know who he was. It would change things. It would complicate things.  
"Ahem," came the driver's fastidious voice from his seat, "Is something the matter, Mistress Nabiki?"  
Nabiki's attention was brought back to reality as she tried to catch the driver's eyes in the mirror (she couldn't he was too short), "Er... sorry... yes?"  
He reached a hand back holding a box of tissues, "I thought perhaps you could use this."  
"What?" Nabiki blinked and only then realized that she had been crying. She hadn't noticed at all. She accepted the proffered box and did her best to smile, "Thank you, Satsuke." "A pleasure, Mistress Nabiki," he replied.  
She dabbed at her eyes lightly and glanced up again, "You know... its kind of funny... how come you're the only member of the Kuno's staff anyone ever sees? I know the family has got maids and servants and stuff, but you're the only one who seems to ever be around."  
The driver gave a sly smile adjusting his hood slightly, "Ahh... that, Mistress Nabiki is because we are the Kuno family servants. We are Ninja. Do not expect to see us."  
Nabiki bit back a laugh, "Really?"  
"Yes, really," he said with mock severity in his voice, "I'm actually the worst of them all at hiding, so they gave me this job. It certainly would not do to have the car driven by an unseen driver."  
Nabiki chuckled despite himself, "I suppose not."  
Satsuke smiled over his shoulder, "Are you feeling better yet, Mistress Nabiki?"  
"Yes, I guess," Nabiki conceded smiling a little, "And just call me Nabiki, if you don't mind."  
"Certainly, Mistress Nabiki."  
Nabiki sighed and tried to bury herself deeper into the car's soft seats, "I just wish it were all different..." she murmured softly.  
"Do you mean between the young Master Kuno and yourself?" the driver asked softly.  
"Oh? Um... yes, I guess I do." Nabiki mumbled back in reply.  
"I know it is not my place, Mistress, but if there is anything a ninja is good at, it is keeping a secret. Would you like to talk about it? Rest assured not a word will reach another's ears..."  
"Ahh... I don't know, Satsuke... I wouldn't want to burden you..." Nabiki started to say.  
"It is no burden at all, Mistress Nabiki... ahh, the things the young master has confided in me would surprise you," Satsuke said matter of factly.  
"Really? Like what?" Nabiki asked, curious despite herself.  
"Oh, no... do not seek to trick me into revealing his confidences, Mistress Nabiki," Satsuke replied with a playful grin.  
She chuckled, "Alright... I suppose, you are good at keeping secrets. Well... you know the entire fianc situation don't you?"  
"Quite," Satsuke replied, "It was quite the talk of the members of the household help when we first heard of it. Neither you nor the young master seemed overly pleased with the arrangement."  
"Yeah, not overly pleased is putting it too lightly," Nabiki answered, "But its not him who's the problem. It's me... I mean practically every other girl I know would probably be overjoyed to have Tatewaki as their fiance."  
"And yet you are not similarly overjoyed?" Satsuke continued for her, "Forgive me for prying, mistress, but I am getting the distinct impression that perhaps there is someone else involved in this problem?"  
Nabiki looked at Satsuke, "You're sharper than you look."  
"I'm not just a pretty face, Mistress," he said with a self-deprecating little smile, "Come to that, I'm not even a pretty face, but pray continue."  
"That's basically it... I can't marry Tatewaki or even keep up this entire engagement thing when I'm already in love with someone else."  
"Ahh..." Satsuke nodded, "This is true. Have you informed the young master?"  
"No, I haven't," she admitted, "It's... its not exactly so easy to do it, because the circumstances between me and the other guy are kind of... strange."  
"You don't say?"  
"We've never actually met face to face... and I don't even know his name... but he writes to me... and... this sounds really weird, I know..."  
"Not at all, Mistress. It merely seems to me that if he has been writing to you from the heart, then it is a good thing. For you love him without caring for his appearance or name or any other matter which may interfere..."  
"Yes," Nabiki nodded, "You do understand."  
"Quite. Nevertheless, you know so little about this other person... that can be a difficult thing to overcome."  
"I know. And to make matters worse, I think he's starting to get jealous of me and Tatewaki... and I know... or I think Tatewaki knows something too, but he's not saying anything..." she sighed.  
"The young master is quite private about his thoughts and feelings," Satsuke said, "Only someone who's known him well could even begin to be able to notice how happy he's been these past few weeks..."  
"What do you mean?"  
"Merely that I've noticed he does seem considerably more relaxed and happy after having spent time with you," Satsuke continued idly, "But that could be discounted I suppose, as being glad to have a friend to be with."  
"I don't understand."  
"Well, the young master..." Satsuke hesitated a moment as though unsure whether he should continue, "He... despite appearances, he is very lonely. Perhaps only you... or Mistress Akane... aside from his immediate family has spent so much time with him before. I think he is very glad for it."  
"Oh," she sighed again, "You know Satsuke, that doesn't help me very much... it sort of makes it seem all the worse if I tell him I won't be spending as much time with him..."  
"Was that what you'd decided on?" the driver asked, his voice seemed to feign ignorance.  
"I was thinking about it... I mean, Tatewaki's a nice guy. He deserves to spend time with someone who can appreciate him properly. And it's not me. I feel jumpy all the time I'm with him, wondering if my secret admirer is watching us..." Nabiki continued miserably.  
"Well, it is your decision mistress, and I believe I can sympathize... the young master would sooner have you apart and still a friend, than to be the cause of a break-up between you and your admirer, and have you hate him."  
Nabiki thought about that.  
"Well, here we are Mistress... the Tendo dojo. Please take care."  
"Thank you, Satsuke," Nabiki smiled gently at him. She hadn't even noticed that they'd arrived.  
"It was my pleasure, ma'am."

Nabiki picked idly at the lunch Kasumi had packed for her that day. Admittedly it wasn't up to Kasumi's usual high standards, but that was understandable. She was still a little nuts from her left over Dr. Toufuu high. So practically everything had been sliced into little hearts. Which wouldn't be so bad, but she'd packed sushi for Nabiki. She hadn't seen either Akane, Ranma or Kodachi all day... and was wondering.  
Tatewaki ate his lunch quietly in the seat next to hers. This had become standard practice in Furinkan high school. Whatever table Nabiki selected for her use was left empty by everyone else save him. The rest of the crowd occasionally shot jealous glances in their direction. Nabiki sighed.  
"What seems to be troubling you?" Tatewaki asked in a worried tone.  
"We need to talk," Nabiki said to him in a level tone.  
"This sounds serious," he replied.  
"It is."  
"Look, Tatewaki... um... I don't think we should see each other too much... anymore..." Before she even finished saying it Nabiki knew she'd chosen her words wrong.  
"I beg your pardon?" Tatewaki looked at her mildly baffled.  
Nevertheless she pressed on, "It's like this Tatewaki... there's someone else who... I like... and who likes me."  
Tatewaki nodded, "Yes..?"  
"And... well, he knows about the engagement and he knows that its just our parents forcing us into it... and he knows there's nothing really going on between us, so I suppose I shouldn't have said 'seeing each other', because we're not really seeing each other, cause that makes us sound like we're dating or something, but maybe I guess I should say hanging out together... in any case..." Nabiki rattled off.  
"You're babbling," Kuno said to her.  
"I know, I know," she took a deep breath trying to collect herself, she looked him straight in the eye, her stare hard and unflinching, "Engagement or no engagement, we really should stop... you know... being together so much. I think it's making the guy I like jealous, even if he doesn't say so in so many words... it's... I'm sorry..."  
Kuno's mouth almost quirked, "So... you're trying to tell me that we shouldn't be seeing each other anymore because there's someone else? If I didn't know better it really would sound like we're really dating."  
Those at the tables closest to theirs looked at one another in surprise. Now this... THIS was juicy!  
"Is it anyone I know?" Kuno asked after a moment.  
"I don't think so," Nabiki replied slowly. She added reluctantly, "Maybe."  
"I see."  
Nabiki tried to smile a little, "Yeah. Well, no hard feelings, huh? I know it sounds weird, but maybe if we tell our dads this it'll make breaking up the engagement easier."  
Kuno chuckled, "Somehow I think not. Well... in any case, I should perhaps move tables then. It would not do to have the other man get the wrong idea," and with that he got up and quietly stalked towards another table. The students seated there saw the expression on his face and without a word exchanged, vacated it.  
Nabiki watched him leave, feeling numb. She took a long glance at the table of which she was the sole occupant just as she would likely be for the forseeable future. For a brief moment she felt that she should call him back... to tell him that it had all been a bad joke... but she simply sighed softly, her eyes still on him as he sat, before she turned to one side and looked quietly off into the distance.  
It seemed for a brief moment as if the world had been divided into three. The part where Nabiki sat alone at her table... the one where Tatewaki sat alone at his... and the rest of the world, who watched in mute testimony.

Nabiki opened her locker with some degree of trepidation. There was no possible way her secret admirer could have missed the scene at the cafeteria. As the light entered her opened locker the glittering inside made her breath catch momentarily. She reached in eagerly, her eyes wide in wonder... inside was the katana charm bracelet she had so recently been admiring.  
She held it in her hand, breathless with surprise. How could he have known? Did he follow her to the mall with Tatewaki? Or perhaps he heard it from Akane? Or did he simply know her that well?  
She looked at what it had been sitting on. Today's letter. With trembling fingers she reached for it, opening it slowly, lest she tear the paper.

Dearest Nabiki,  
My beloved, you know my heart better than anyone ever has. For it is yours and yours alone. I love you too much to ever be able to bear to hurt you. I would sooner take the pain myself than allow such a thing to happen. Because of this, I understand that I can no longer be a part of your life. I have seen your eyes and I know that you love another. I will not force myself upon you and I can see so clearly that you have made your choice.  
Know that I love you and will always love you, but I will not stand in the way of your happiness. Follow your heart. Let this be my final token to you. My last missive. Think of me sometimes and perhaps smile fondly at these humble loving words I've given you. Farewell.

As always, it was unsigned. Her fingers numb as the tears began to flow, the bracelet slipped out of her grasp to clatter softly onto the floor. He'd seen it in her eyes? How? Unless he meant the way I'd watched Tatewaki leave? How could he have mistaken that for love?! How?! Why was this happening?!! Her mind raged at the loss... at the unfairness of it all... and with a furious cry, she crumpled the letter into her fist and smashed that fist into the locker next to hers, denting the metal deeply, before she ran... - - -  
Nabiki awoke slowly to voices. Her eyes stung a little, she knew that had been from crying herself to sleep... she'd run straight home and locked herself in her room, unable to do anything but cry miserably... She wiped her eyes across her forearm and stood up, feeling a little weak-kneed and woozy. She felt a little better, but not by much. Her mind was still a confused jumble of anger, of pain, of loss... the humiliating loss... she glanced at the clock, seeing it was only a quarter to six... still fairly early.  
She could hear voices... Akane's... and Tatewaki's?  
"So she dumped you?" that was Akane.  
"Well, I don't think dumped is the appropriate term... I'm not sure what is. It's not as if we actually had any sort of relationship..." that was Tatewaki.  
Despite herself, Nabiki curiously put an ear to her wall.  
"Something about someone else..." his voice filtered through.  
"Her loss. I don't know how she could think anyone could compete with you," Akane replied, and Nabiki could almost swear she could hear Tatewaki blushing, "It's kind of weird actually... Kasumi said she saw Nabiki run home early and she looked like she'd been crying."  
"Certainly not over me," Tatewaki's voice said firmly. There was tension there, as if he were controlling himself strictly.  
"Well, Ranma's seeing Ukyou off at the train station with Kodachi... Ryouga's lost again since last night... and I don't think you're here to see Nabiki after that brush off... so what can I do for you?" Akane asked cheerfully. Perhaps a little too cheerfully, thought Nabiki to herself.  
"Ahh... well, someone said they saw Nabiki drop this... a little before she'd turned one of the lockers into so much scrap," Tatewaki said.  
Nabiki's eyes widened as she realized. The bracelet! She'd left the bracelet behind!  
"Oh," Akane's voice came back, but Nabiki was no longer there to hear it. As she'd rushed out her door and ran for Akane's room.  
Nabiki didn't bother to knock on her sister's door. It was slightly ajar anyway as she pushed it open the rest of the way. Inside Akane was sitting cross legged on her bed and Tatewaki was seated on her desk chair, moved close to the bed. She caught sight of them just as Tatewaki was speaking, "And these are for..." he was handing over a small sheaf of papers to Akane and was stopped just as Nabiki burst in.  
Akane looked up at Nabiki in surprise, "You know, you could knock first?" she said sourly, the katana charm bracelet dangling off of one finger. She raised the bracelet up to eye level, "I believe," she said with a knowing smile, "This is yours, Nabiki."  
Nabiki strode forward, her face grim as she extended a hand stiffly, "Thank you."  
"Oh, don't thank me. If it weren't for Tatewaki-kun you'd probably have lost this," Akane said somewhat pointedly, as she dropped the bracelet into her sister's hand, "You have any idea how much it cost?"  
Nabiki blinked at Akane, wondering what brought THAT statement on... but before she could think about that, something else caught her attention. The papers. In Tatewaki's hand. That familiar stationery... the penmanship... she caught the first few words on the top sheet... 'My dearest love'... she stared.  
"Are you okay, Nabiki..?" Akane asked worriedly.  
Tatewaki looked back at her, then realized what she was staring at and hurriedly hid the papers behind his back. A futile gesture at best as he gave her a small sickly little smile.  
"WHAT ARE THOSE?!" Nabiki roared at Tatewaki, snatching for the papers. Tatewaki stunned and simultaneously trying to dodge, rise from his seat and keep the papers away from her failed miserably at all three, his legs entangled with the chair legs, as he stumbled out of the chair, onto his back. Nabiki landed on top of him, straddling his chest and struggling like a wildcat until she'd managed to pin his wrists with one hand and grab the now crumpled papers with another.  
Akane made a face at the scene and murmured to herself, "And she accuses me of being kinky..." she hid a chuckle.  
Nabiki moved up a bit, putting her knees on Tatewaki's shoulders to hold him down, while she read the first paper... it was a love letter alright... she dug into her pocket pulling out the one she'd received earlier and held them up for comparison. The same paper... the same penmanship... sentence structure... They were written by the same person. She glared down at Tatewaki, grabbing his collar with one hand and pulling him up. Which when combined with the fact that she had his shoulders pinned with her knees made for a very painful position, "It was you!?! This whole time?!"  
"Wh-wha-what're you t-ta-talking about Nabiki?!" Tatewaki sputtered.  
"My secret admirer! The one who's been sending me love letters every day for the past year!?!"  
"I can explain!" Tatewaki protested.  
"Explain?! Explain how we're not apart for more than six hours and you're already giving love letters to my sister?! And face to face no less, where are your guts?! Or have you been giving these to her the whole time while you were with me too?! Well?! Answer me!!!" she screamed in his face, shaking her fist at him.  
"Nabiki, would you mind not manhandling my merchandise?" Akane said sharply.  
"What?!" Nabiki said, turning to look at Akane.  
Akane pointed at the crumpled paper in her sister's hand, "I still have to distribute those to my clients you know."  
"Clients..?" Nabiki asked weakly, blinking in confusion.  
Akane said slowly, as though explaining to a child, "I sell love letters to the guys at school, since most of them wouldn't know how to write one anyway, or they've got lousy handwriting. I pay Tatewaki to write them for me and I distribute them to the people who commissioned them, unsigned of course, so they can put their own names on it. What they do with the letters afterwards is their business. He was just giving me today's shipment."  
"My... he..." she looked from Akane to Tatewaki, "Did you write this?!" shaking her letter under his nose.  
"Ahh... I... I believe so. Yes," Tatewaki confirmed, "That seems to be my handiwork."  
A confused mixture of emotions ran through Nabiki. There was the remainder of her simmering violent rage at how she'd been duped. The sense of betrayal... how could she have believed the words of someone had come from their heart if there was another hand directing the pen writing them. The overwhelming sense of disbelief. There was relief too, that it wasn't Tatewaki... and yet... a twinge of regret to that it wasn't... but how? The name wasn't important. Nor the face... nor anything else but who would've wanted to send her the letters... and there was the bracelet? How could he have known unless.  
"Who's been commissioning you two to send those letters?!"  
"Sis, you know my records are confidential," Akane told her calmly.  
"Fine," she muttered, deep inside her she still didn't really want to know. She didn't want to ruin the mystery... even now when he'd written his last word to her, she still couldn't stand the thought of knowing who it was. Especially not now... it would be too painful.  
Nabiki pushed the bracelet towards Tatewaki's face, "Did you send me this? What do you know about it getting into my locker?!"  
"I... I... that's the bracelet you wanted from the mall isn't it?" Tatewaki managed to say.  
"Answer the question!" Nabiki thundered at him.  
"I sent that to you, Nabiki." Akane answered calmly.  
"You what?!" the elder Tendo sister turned to look at her.  
"It was my way of apologizing for our argument the other day... I saw you looking at it... and, well... I know Ryouga and I spoiled your da... the time you were spending with Tatewaki."  
"I don't believe it," Nabiki said flatly.  
"Pull it out of the sheath," Akane prodded.  
Baffled, Nabiki unsheathed the tiny sword and a small piece of delicately folded rice paper fell out. She caught it in one hand, opening it carefully as she read, the words.

Nabiki,

I'm sorry.

Akane

Nabiki could only stare. She seemed to deflate, as if the fight had suddenly been sucked out of her, "So it wasn't from him," she murmured softly. She looked down at the prone Tatewaki and her thoughts were little more than a confused jumble. She spoke hesitantly, "Tatewaki... do... do they tell you what the letters should say? Or do you come up with it on your own?"  
"I... um... I usually come up with it myself... occasionally they will request certain phrases or thoughts be conveyed... but the wording and style are mine more often than not."  
"I see," she said, her eyes focusing on him clearly. And she saw him clearly for perhaps only the second time since their staged fight. She saw him clearly for what he was. And she knew. She knew and it didn't matter anymore. They were his words. In that moment of perfect clarity she knew it beyond any shadow of doubt and beyond the power of mere words to explain. He wasn't speaking for anyone else. Those were his words. To her. They had always been. It had always been him.  
"Nabiki..." his voice came to her gently, "Are you alright?"  
She nodded, now calm and a small smile beginning to form at the corners of her mouth, "Yes. I guess I am. I didn't mean to be a bother."  
"No bother at all," he smiled back weakly.  
She asked hesitantly, "Do... do you hate me?"  
"Course not," he answered honestly, "But the circulation in my arms is beginning to be cut off... would you mind standing?"  
"Sorry," she said meekly, "Will you walk me to school tomorrow?" she asked.  
He blinked at her in surprise for a moment, "Certainly. If that is your wish," he answered finally.  
"Good," she smiled warmly at him, "I'll see you then."  
She turned to look at Akane who was sitting in a contemplative silence for the past few moments, "Akane, I'm sorry too. Thank you for the gift," Nabiki said, bowing low to her.  
Akane was taken by surprise, but not so much that she wasn't able to recover quickly, "It's alright. No trouble," she returned the bow.  
Nabiki flashed her a playful grin, "I'll do my best to curb my temper a bit," she raised up her wrist as she set the bracelet into place, "I think this'll help remind me."  
Akane chuckled back, "And if you don't at least you can give someone a nasty little cut with that."  
The two of them laughed. Tatewaki stood silently, not wishing to interrupt.  
Nabiki walked back to the doorway before looking over her shoulder and flashing Kuno that grin, "Remember, Tatewaki... we aren't dating..."  
"I have not forgotten," he said smiling back.  
"We're engaged," she grinned and with that, she stepped out and closed the door.  
Tatewaki collapsed weakly into the chair once more. Akane looked at him thoughtfully, "Was that what Gosunkugi had on you?"  
"I beg your pardon?"  
"I know Gosunkugi's records back to front, and I know for a fact that no one's ever commissioned a letter for Nabiki. Was the fact that you were sending Nabiki love letters what he was blackmailing you with?"  
"I... I don't know what you are speaking of," Tatewaki replied, "Gosunkugi was having me write those letters on his behalf."  
Akane's eyes widened in surprise, "Whoa."  
Tatewaki nodded, "Quite."  
"But no one's heard from him in months," Akane replied, "Not since I got rid of him. You haven't been seeing him on the side have you?" an eyebrow raised, "I'd be very unhappy if you did."  
"Well... he commission the first few letters... but after that he got bored... and I... well..."  
Akane smiled, "I see. No need to mention that to anyone else, I suppose. Well, you'd better get going home. You don't want to stay out too late."  
"Yes. Yes, I suppose not. Thank you, Akane," Tatewaki nodded as he made his way out of the room.  
"Tatewaki?" she called out just as he was about to shut the door.  
"Yes?" he turned.  
"I think you two make a good couple," she said to him seriously.  
He smiled briefly, "Thank you," and with that, he left.  
She stared at the door for long moments after he'd gone, then turned her glance to the picture of Ryouga on the nightstand, "Yes... a good couple..." she murmured to herself, a very small, sad smile on her face, as she gently pushed her regrets to the back of her mind.

Nabiki slept easily. In her dreams she read the loving words within the letters she'd received these many months. The letters she'd saved and hidden and kept and reread every so often. But for a change... there was a voice to the words as they were whispered softly within her dreams... a voice that wasn't hers... and it was Tatewaki's voice that spoke to her, reading the words softly to her.  
She turned in her sleep, a restful, happy smile on her face.

The End


End file.
